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BEDOUIN TRIBES OF
THE EUPHRATES.

BEDOUIN TEIBES OF THE EUPHEATES.

LADY ANNE BLUNT.

EDITED,

WITH A PREFACE AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE

ARABS AND THEIR HORSES,

By W.

S.

B.

IN

TWO VOLUMES.
VOL.
II.

WITH MAP AND SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR.

h
LONDOX

JOHN MUEEAY, ALBEMAELE STREET.

1879.
\_All riglits reserved.']

LONDON
B.'^ADnURY,

AGNOV, &

CO.,

TRINTEKS, -VVHITEFRIARS.

LIBRARY UNIVERPTTy QTT CATJFORNIA

SANTA BARBARA

CONTENTS TO VOL.
CHAPTER
Difficulties arise

11.

XVI.
PAGE

with the Mutesherif We are suspected of being

spies

Kadderly
of

Pasha

Land

Freedom

His excellent principlesTurkey the We engage a Bedouin from the I\Iehed to

take us to Jeddan

.........
CHAPTER
XYIT.
el fails
.

Once more

Taleb the Desert Our guide us Mohammed We gather manna Arrested The Tudmur road Fox-hunting A the Ami'ir robbers We arrive at PalmjTa.
in
visit to

17

CHAPTER
Politics

XVIII.

trigues

Tudmur A blood-feud Ali Bey the Circassian Inand counter-intrigues A meeting in camp The Mudir lectured on his duties News of the Anazeh
in

....
minutes

42

The odd

trick

and four
gliazvi

CHAPTER XIX. forty by honours A

f;\st

The

Consul at last We start for the

lark A We discover
real

Hamad Song

of the desert

Looking for the Anazeh Jcbel Ghorab Jedaan Married for the fifteenth time and yet not happy Blue blood in the desert A discourse on horse-breeding We are entrusted with a diplomatic mission to
tents

the Roala

60

vi

Contents.

CHAPTER XX.
Ferlidn ibn

Hcdeb The Gomussa and

in the desert

tlieir

mares

Moliainiued
hunters

PAGE

Duki

and a

A panic Our new brother, Meshiir ibn Mersliid Scarcity "Wo leave the Anazeh camp and make a forced march of water
Beteyen's mare
retreat

A lawsuit

tribe of Gazelle

The Sebaa are

attacked by the Koala

toBirSukr

98

CHAPTER

XXI.

March under a burning sun The Welled Ali and their sheep Wii, come to the Eodla camp One hundred and fifty thousand

camels

Sotamm

ibn Shaalau receives

us

Sotamm's wife The

to the Desert

Diplomatic
clioice

checks

Uttfa IMohammed's

Good -bye
13U

CHAPTER
Last words

XXII.
in

The camel

defended

Sotamm

town

Farewells
152

party of Yahoos

CHAPTER
Geogi'aphy of Northern Arabia
^ligi'atious of its

XXIII.
features of the Desert

Physical

tribes The Euphrates valley

Desert villages
.

Some hints for map-makers

CHAPTER XXIV.
Desert History

161

The Shammar
the

and Anazeh invasions

of civilisation in

Eui)hrates Valley

Destruction Reconcjuest by the

Turks

Tlieir

present position in Arabia

Tribes

An account of the Sabreans

List of the Bedouin

175

CHAPTER XXV.
Physical characteristics of the

Bedouin Araljs

On certain
respect for

Tliey are short-lived

and
in gratitude
hosjiitality

fallacies

regarding them

Their humanity Their

law Tlicyare
lov(!

defective in truth

Their
women

childish

of

money

Their

Bedouin
198

Contents.

vii

CHAPTER XXVI.
Eeligion of
tlio

Bedouiiis confined to a belief iu

ceremonial observances
in a future
life

God They have no Their oaths They are -without belief

PAGE

Their superstitious absolute code Their niarria^'es

CHAPTER
Political constitution of the

......
are few

Their morality an

216

XXVII.

Their intolerance of authority Their rules of warfareTheir

blood feuds

Bedouins Their liberty Their equality

229

CHAPTER
Arab horse-breedmg
breed

XXYIII.

Picture

a fast horse for

respecting it There is no Nejdean Anazeh horse He is a bold jumper Is his size His nerve excellent, and his temper
of the

Obscurity

Causes of deterioration
different

How

the

Their system of breeding and training

bian horse

Their prejudices Pedigree of the

POSTSCRIPT.

Bedouins judge a horse Their horsemanship inthoroughbred Ara-

..........

gi;ess at

243

Scheme of a Euphrates Valley Eailway. Of river communication. The Turkish sytem of government. Its partial success.

Its failings

the future

......

27

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL.

--

II.

Ruins of Palace of El Haddk

....
Mount Hermon
.

FrontUpieee

FAGB

Palmyra

42

Council of

War
A^iew of
. .

98

Our own Tent, with a

Sherifa

130

243

BEDOUIN TEIBES
OF

THE EUPHRATES.
CHAPTER
XVI.
man
as ever lived in

" I must say the man in black clothes seemed to be as fine a the world." Aktemas AV'akd.

Difficulties arise

with the Mutesherif

spies

Kadderly

Land of Mehed to take us

the

His Freedom We
Pasha
to Jedaan.

We

are suspected of being

principles

excellent

Turkey

engage a Bedouin from the

In leaving Bagdad, as

we

liad

done, without

paying a farewell

visit to the

Valy,

we had com-

mitted a breach of etiquette, and in travelling without a buyuruldi a breach of the law, which might

bring us into trouble with the Turkish authorities,

whenever we came again under their jurisdiction. So we were rather anxious about the reception our
old friend

Huseyn might be disposed

to give

us,

now that we were back at Deyr. AVe had learnt from the MoUah, in the course of our ride, some
comedy, which had been played us there two months before, and were prepared for
details of the little

finding ourselves in the Pasha's bad books.

VOL.
ir.

Bedouin

Ti'ibes

of the Euphrates,

[ch. xvi.

The MoUah,
time of our

it

appeared, had been at De}^: at the

arrival,

wish to

visit

his chief and,

had seen ns and known of our on one occasion, had

to pass

actually been waiting in the courtyard of the Serai

to speak to us,

when Huseyn, happening

his business,
if

by, had sent

him about

with the threat

of extreme displeasure
self there

he ventured to show him-

again during our stay.

We

knew then
;

that our successful visit to Faris w^ould not be a

very agreeable piece of news to our old host

the Serai, Avithout the

and

Consul to suj)port us there,

seemed suddenly changed in our eyes from the harbour of refuge it had been, to something not unlike a prison. We had counted throughout on
his presence to set us right with the authorities

and now he was not there. It was necessary however

it
;

to put a bold face

on

so,

when

shortly

after

our

arrival

Huseyn

appeared, Wilfrid in a cheerful voice appealed to

him

on the success of our enterhad seen everything and everybody in Mesopotamia and everybody and everything had been delightful. Ferhan's sons, Smeyr and Faris, were the most agreeable people in the world, the desert had been a Garden of Eden, the ghazu stories
for congratulations
prise.

We

nonsense, and the country as safe for travellers any part of the empire, or of Europe itself, for that matter. It was only to be regretted that his Excellency had not been able to make the journey with us, he would have enjoyed it so immensely.
all

as

CH. XVI.]

Otw Friend

Hiiscyn and his Woes.

Thus attacked, the Pasha could only repeat his usual exclamation, "Wall! wah wall!" and appear
!

delighted

though, to our guilty consciences, there

seemed a curious expression not quite of pleasure in He "All was Avell that ended well. his eyes. was glad we had met with no accident but the desert was a dangerous place, and the Bedouins
;

were not always to be trusted.

returned, which

was would do his best to console us for our fatigues. Our old rooms unfortunately were occupied, or on the point of being occupied, by the new Valy of
the principal thing
;

However, we had and he

Bagdad, who was passing through Deyr

one Z
Effendi,

but

we

could lodge at the house of a Christian tradesman,

where we should

still

be the

Pasha's guests, and, he hoped, more

comfortably

than was possible in his

self

own poor

house.
it,

For him-

he had had a miserable time of

ever since

we

went away, perpetual work and perpetual solitude. He was beginning to pine for home and the society of his friends at Aleppo and Deyr was bringing him to an early grave."
;

Poor

man

we were ready enough

to believe that

the latter part at least of this

sincere, for

little

speech was

he looked, in the short time since we had seen him last, considerably aged. His hair

was

several shades whiter, and he

had grown

thin.

So we expressed our sympathy heartily enough, and

said as little as

with the

official

was necessary about our relations It was only our world of Bagdad.

Bedouin Tribes of

tJic

Euphrates,

[cir.

xvr.

future plans that gave us anxiety, for

it

was easy to

see that Ave should find no help from the Serai in

what we were now bent

on, a visit to the Anazeh.

all

We

resolved simply to say notliing at

about

them.

Of Mr. S. the Pasha knew nothing, except that he had heard of him as being at Aleppo a month
and expressed great surprise at our expecting Kadderly Pasha, the to find him again at Deyr. new Valy, would however arrive in a few hours, and we should get the latest news. His own son Zaklvi Bey, was travelling with the Valy, and he was a friend of Mr. S.'s. So we were fain to be
before,

content with the hope that perhaps the consul also

would be of the party, as, in a few lines that had been waiting some time for us at Deyr from him, he had spoken of his journey as a settled plan. But why had he failed us ? This we could not
understand.

The next day Huseyn was busy with the Valy, and left us pretty much to ourselves and, when we met again, there certainly was a (j&ae in his mjinner.
;

Considering the circumstances of the case, the unfortunate issue of the

state of the garrisons

war with Eussia, the denuded on the Turkish frontier, and

it is

the intrigues and disputes which were agitating the

desert round him, I think

not surprising that

tribes,

our persistence in visiting the Bedouin

spite

in

of

all

warnings and

all

hindrances, should
official

have aroused suspicions of us in Huseyn's

CH. XVI.]

IVe fall under SiLSpicion.

mind

and

I suspect that tlie

good

man had

taken

counsel of his fellow-governor about the course to

be pursued with us
sage from the

for

that of the Valy's arrival,

latter,

on the evening following we received a polite mes-

begging that we would do him

the favour of calling at the Serai.

Now,

if this

Valy had happened to be a man of

the old school like Akif Pasha and others

whom
ill

one could name, I think

1

it

might have fared

with us at this conjuncture, for suspicion of

us, as

have

said,

was not unreasonable, and the two

Orientals together, taking counsel of each other's

fears,

put a

might in the end have plucked up courage to forcible term to our adventures by sending us back under escort to Aleppo. We could hardly have complained had they done so. But, fortunately for us, the Valy was a man of a very difterent type from any we had hitherto met in Turkey, indeed it would be doing him an injustice to and he at talk of him as in any way an Oriental

once understood the situation and recognised us for

what we were, mere

Kadderly Pasha
is

tourists

and

sight-seers.

His

discrimination saved us.

a Turk,

and a Europeanised

Turk

yet he impressed
;

me

very favourably.

He

speaks excellent French

difficulty

satisfying

and we not only had no in explaining our position to him and any curiosity he may have had as to our
also

movements, but we

were able to have a very

interesting conversation with

him about

the general

Bedouin Tribes of the

EiipJirates.

[en. xa-i.

politics of

Europe and the Empire.

EfFendi,

His history,

believe, is this.

by Vefyk

As a young man he was taken up who with Midliat Pasha was

These
ears,

anxious to form a school of politicians in Turkey

with modern views and modern principles.

loudly professed the doctrine,

new

to

Ottoman

that honesty was the best policy, and carried out, I

believe, their

principle fairly.

Unfoi^tunately the

band

of followers

was never numerous,, and Kad-

derly seems to have been the only one

who

distin-

guished himself in the world.

himself

He had

educated

when

past twenty, and after filling various

minor

offices,

had now been promoted by

his first

patron to the rank of Valy.

Kadderly Pasha was straight from Stamboul, left the capital not three weeks before, and had all the contempt, which a European, fresh from
having
witnessing the great events of history, (for he had
left

the Russians at the gates of Constantinople),

could not help feeling for the petty politics of

Arabia.

He did not, in ftict, so much as ask what was going on among the Bedouins, but ignored the whole matter, afiecting only an interest in the ruins of El Haddr and the prospects of a Euphrates This European line of thought valley railway. suited us admirably and we discoursed, as learnedly as we could, on archaeology and civil engineering, and a little on the attempted improvements of his former predecessor and patron Midliat at Bagdad. On these the Valy spoke as sensibly as a first
;

en. XXI.]

Disco2trse on Righteousness.
" Three things," he said,

commissioner of works.

who would effect real good in the department he administers vouloir, Midhat had the first and last savoir, et j^ouvoir !

" are necessary in a governor,

'

'

qualifications,

but not the second.

He was

a half-

educated man."

With regard

to another important
first

matter, he remarked that the

in

reform wanted
real religious
;

Turkey was the establishment of

equality.

Toleration already existed

but some-

thing more was required.

distinction in dealing with

The law should make no

men

of different creeds,

any more than with men of different races. Many races and many creeds were comprised in the Otto-

man

Empire.

Wilfrid. " Yet the

toleration

Mussulman
it

religion invented

many

centuries before

was accepted by
it,

the Christian governments of Europe." Kadderhj. " Say rather, reinvented

ration Avas always the law of ancient

for tole-

Eome. This day a great step in advance, but Islam has now fallen behind Christendom. It is time

was

in its

that religious bitterness should cease in Asia as

it

has in Europe."

We

did not venture to touch upon the more deliof oflicial honesty.

cate point

We

felt

that
;

we
for,

might be
although
it

treading

on

dangerous

ground

imagine a gentleman, with such excellent principles as the Valy's, putting

w^as difiicult to

his

hand

into the public purse, the chances of our

having hit upon an immaculate governor were so

Bedoidii Tribes of the Euphrates,

it

[ch.

xvi.

was mere common j^rudence to say nothing which might offend. AVe turned the conversation, instead, on the practical liberty, which undoubtedly exists in Turkey,
small in Turkey, that

and on which we could with

sincerity be eloquent.

Wilfrid told the story of a conversation

we had
it

once had with a zaptieh in Asia Minor, which, as

contains a moral,

may

be worth relating here.

This
offi-

zaptieh had been complaining to us of certain

cial

malpractices which, although he was himself an

agent of the law, had struck him as needing reform

in his

rent
of
is

own country, and mentioned the report curamong his fellows that England was the land " Every one there," he said, " we know liberty.
and happy, and honest men may do without interference from any one."
all

free

they
It is

like,

"

true,"

we

answered, ''that things with us are not

as

You, Mohammed, for inwould not be allowed to take this ploughshare, which you have found in the field, to make your fire with or turn your horse into this standing
they are with you.
stance,

corn to graze

but

all
is

countries are not equally

favoured, and there

liberty

and

liberty.

What

should you say for instance of a land, where a poor

man, travelling along the high road, might not collect a few dry sticks to make a fire at all, or let his donkey graze on so much as the grass by the wayside,

or even lie

down himself
and
left

to sleep

under a

hedge, without being seized by the zaptiehs, dragged

before

the

cadi,

to

spend the night in

cii.

XVI.]

Turkey
?

the

Land

of Freedom.

prison

"

" No, no," said the

man "you

arc laughthat, or

ing at me.

There

is

no such country as

people would have gone to live elsewhere long ago/'

Kadderly Pasha was much tickled by

story,

this little

and agreed with us that the Sultan's subjects were not altogether so unhappy, only happiness was one thing and progress was another. Of the politics of Europe he really sliowed great knowledge, and even understood something of the state of parties in England, appreciating accurately enough
the causes of the agitation, got up last year
liberals,

by the
polite

on the Eastern question.

He was

enough not to dwell on the vacillating policy of our Government, thinking only that England was making a mistake in allowing Turkey to be devoured. On the whole we felt that we had been talking to an agreeable and superior man and one

who would be
if

inexcusable, on

he failed to do his

any plea of ignorance, duty at Bagdad.

An
tion

important consequence to us of this conversait

was that

reinstated us in public estimation,

He, as a mere niuteslierif and an Aleppine, was treated witli very

and, especially, in that of Huseyn.
scant courtesy by the Valy, and, in his

own

house,

only sat
chair,
trary,

and on the edge of his in the great man's presence. We, on the conwere given the best places on the divan, and
request,

down by

conversed familiarly, and as long as

foreign tongue

we

liked, in

which nobody understood, and which For what therefore made the more impression.

lO

Bedoidn Tribes of the EiLphrates.

is
is

[ch. xvi.

Tiirkisli

to

Arabic, in

public

estimation,

that

French

to Turkish, the language of the superior

Although the Valy took his departure next race. morning, the prestige of our reception remained and Huseyn was again all that we could wish. We had not, hitherto, ventured to breathe a word
of the negotiation intrusted to us

by

Faris, although

constantly in and out of the more than once that it was time But we had felt that, until our own to begin. was cleared up, we should only be precharacter judicing our friend's interests by advocating them. Now however there was no such reason to deter us, and we took advantage of the first opportunity

the Mollah,

who was

house, had hinted

to open the subject.

son,

Zakki Bey, the Pasha's eldest

;

had arrived with the Valy and Ave found him a nice boy of eighteen or twenty, with a good ingenuous countenance, pretty manners, and a fair
education.

He was

a Kdtih, or clerk in the "

ofiice at
;

Cham-

ber of Writing," a public

him we

speedily

made

friends.

Aleppo and with It was no difficult

matter to interest him in the cause of the Bedouins,

for these to a

youth of any imagination must always

;

have a certain attraction

and he knew of his father's recent overtures to Faris, and of the official friendship which had been begun between them.
"

My father,"

he said quite simply, "is as a father

to all these people.

The Bedouins

are his children,

and I know that Faris is his especial favourite. If he would allow me, I would go myself to see your

CH. XVI.]

Faris imtst Wait for his Money.

II

friends the
afraid

Sliammar and set tilings right, but he of accidents happening to me on the road."

is

We

told him, then, to explain to his father that

there was great danger of the friendly footing on which they stood being disturbed by a misunderstandino-. Faris had done work for the Pasha and had not been paid for it and his people were in a Zakki was concerned to state bordering on revolt.
;

learn this,
of
it.

and promised that

his father should hear

The Pasha, accordingly, when he came the next morning, as was his custom, to pay us a visit, began Pie admitted with great himself upon the subject. frankness that the sum demanded was really owing, but declared most solemnly that the treasury of the Serai was empty. Not a sixpence could be got from Aleppo, and everybody's pay, his own included, had long been in arrear. This, I dare say, was true enough.
"Faris,'*

the

"must not suppose that he is only man who has been doing work gratis for
he
said,

on the same footing." He, the Pasha, had otiered him paper money but the Bedouins, stupid fellows, understand nothing
the Sultan this year.
are all
;

We

but silver pieces, and he must take patience

till

the

money
Aleppo.

(he expected

it

daily)

should

come from

He was quite ready to believe that Faris had the best intentions in the world, and that the complaints of the Buggara were, as he had assured us, unfounded but the Skeykh was responsible for his men's conduct, and could keep them in order if he liked. Everybody in fact must have patience.
;

Bedouin Tribes of the EupJiratcs.

this

[ch. xvi.

With

we were

oblio;ed to content ourselves,

reporting the result of our negotiation to the MoUah,

and making him a little present to console him for the want of better success. AVe had now our own plans to attend to, for Ave had been four days at Deyr, and still there was no sign or word from Mr. S. This is how we set about it. First of all the spy Nejran had to be dismissed and this was done, without ceremony on either side, Wilfrid merely bidding him be off, and he replying " heyfac" (as you please). Then it was necessary to get news of the Anazeh without exciting the
;

Pasha's suspicions.

Now
parting

Faris
gift,

a boy

when we left him had given us, as a who had been in his service, and
useful to us as camel;

who he thought would be

driver, in the place of

Nejran

suited for our purpose.

and tliis boy seemed Ghdnim, for such was his

name, was a strange wild-looking youth, with a merry smile, white teeth, and a peculiar glitter in
his eyes,
cat's,

which were half green, half hazel, like a while long wisps and plaits of hair hung all
There Avas
;

about his face in picturesque confusion.

his voice

something singularly attractive in his manner

and which won our attention at once. He told us he was a Jelaas, one of Ibn Shaalan's people, but that he had left his tribe when very young to take service with Abd-ul-Kerim, as groom or rough-rider, for he was a capital horseman, and had lived with the Shammar
had a
caressing, supplicating tone,

CH. xvi.]

Bedonin Bard.

13

till

Al3d-ul-Kerim's death.

He

liad shared in the

Amsheli to Nejd, but had returned and gone to Suliman ibn IMcrshid's tent and lived with
flight of

the Gomussa,

till

his

new master

too

fell

a victim to

the Turks, and then Faris had taken

now

desired to return to his

own

people, but

him back. He would

follow us meanwhile whithersoever

we would.
this

Our

caravan, with the tents and mares, had refor

mained outside the town,

of difficulties arising

we had taken

precaution to preserve our liberty of action, in case

and every day we went out some hours with our camels, and see that all was going on well with them, and learn the news from outside. On these occasions Glianim would bring out a curious little fiddle he had with him, made of parchment, and a bow strung with horse;

to spend

hair,

and, on this very unpretending instrument,

would play to us and sing impromptu songs, some of which were pretty and all exceedingly interesting. There was one, especially our favourite, which began " WhenAbd-ul-Kerim was dead and all his tribe were scattered," and another, whose tune might have
passed in Spain as a Malaguena.

At

these times
as,

Ghdnim's face had a look almost of inspiration

with Imitted brows and trembling

lips, he produced an alternation of chords and discords, worthy of Wagner himself, and sang the glories of the departed heroes he had served. With all this, he was an intelligent lad and could turn his hand to anything, and to him we entrusted the mission of finding out

Bedouin Tribes of

tJie

Euphrates,

[en. xvr.

some agent

or friend of the Anazeb, for such there

us.

always are in the towns, and bringing him to

He was not long executing the commission, and on the evenino- of the 22nd, came to us with two men, one aj^parently a citizen of Deyr, but who refused to give us his name, and the other a thin
dark-visaged Bedouin,
as Ali of the

whom Ghanim

said he

knew

Mehed, a follower and distant relation

These people informed us in a

of Jedaan himself.

confidential whisper, for fear of eavesdropj^ers, that

the Anazeh were on their march northwards, and

already within not many days' march of Deyr, somewhere down in the Hamad, the great plain which stretches southwards from the Blshari hills, as far as Jebel Shammar. This was great news indeed and Ali agreed, for a small sum, two mej idles, to take us to Jedaan, but cautioned us to say nothing of where we were going to Huseyn, or to mention that we had seen him, " For," he explained, " the Pasha is a rogue, and prevented you from seeing Jedaan before, when he was close by, and will prevent you again, if he can. Jedaan knows you were here with the Consul Beglast month, and is angry with the Pasha for having interfered with your visit." It was therefore settled
;

that

we were

to start,

as' it

were for Tudmur (Pal-

myra), and that Ali was to be on the look-out to join

we were well out of sight, when we could alter our course and strike down into the
us as soon as

Hamad,

straight for Jedaan.

The exact position of

cH. XVI.]

Plots

and

Counterplots.

15

the Anazeh tents Ali either could not or would not

describe, but

we thought we
all

should run no risk in

trusting

ourselves to his guidance,

determined at

hazards to see

and we were the Anazeh and get

away from Deyr. As it had been

The next settled, so it was done. morning we informed Huseyn that we were tired of waiting for Mr. S. and must start without him. It was getting late in the season and hot weather might be expected to set in we had affairs at home, which would not wait, and we must make the best of our way westwards. He suggested that Aleppo would be our nearest road, but this we would not hear of. The Anazeh, as he himself had told us, were far away to the south, fighting the Eoala, and there could be no danger in going to Damascus by way of Tudmur, and perhaps the Consul might yet join us there. If we did meet Jedaan on our way, why, so much the better. AVe had always wished
;

to see

any case, we must be off. We suggested that it would be a great pleasure to us if Zakki his son were to join our party. He did not affect to be pleased at this idea, said he had no

him

but, in

soldiers to

send with

us,

and that the Tudmur road

was

c[uite unsafe.

He
;

could not possibly allow his

son to go that

and he advised us most strongly not to think of it. But we insisted so pertinaciously that he said he would see what could be done. There were some Tudmuris at Deyr, who might be wDling to go with us, and he would send for

way

Bcdonin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. x^-r.

them.

little iieo'otiation

at the

same time was

since our first

entered into, about a certain mare of the Pasha's,

which there had been question, ever

visit,

Huseyn was evidentlyfar from pleased, and, though we affected an extreme unconcern about the arrangements made, it was
of our buying.
Still

evident that
store for

difficulties,

perhaps troubles, were in

could be clear

us before

we

away from

was most fortunate during all these negowe were no longer in the Pasha's house, for otherwise we should no doubt have had much greater trouble in communicating with the Mehed. As it was, a servant of the house was very fond of hanging about listening, whenever conversation was going on and our Christian landlord himself, with his fat mother, dropped in from time to time. I have little doubt that any information they picked up went straight to the Serai. These Christians had the impertinence, on the
Deyr,
It
tiations, that
;

night of our arrival at their house, to

sit

down

with us at

table,

on
;

chairs,

conversation before us

and even to make but this was too much,

and we speedily set them in their proper place, which was on the floor, according to the custom of the
country.

We

were not

ilieiv

guests but the Pasha's.

The only trustworthy person in the establishment was old Mariam, the cook's wife, with whom we left
a
letter explaining

our plans to the Consul, in case

might yet by accident arrive at Deyr. this there now seemed little chance.
lie

But of

CHAPTER

XVII.

" With stout iron shoes be my Pej^asus shod, For my road is a rough one, flint, rubble and clod." OwBiT Meebdith.

Once

Biore in

the

desert

Taleb

We

gather

Our guide fails us Mohammed el manna Arrested The Tudmur road

Fox-hunting Palmyra.

visit to

the

Amur

robbers We
left

arrive

at

Sunday, March
are once more in

24.

We

have

Deyr, and

tlie desert, oii7^

oiun desert I

had

we are more at home in it and yet I feel out of spirits. This new venture has not begun auspiciously and, hut for Wilfrid, who suffers from the confinement of indoor life, I would willingly have put off starting for n few days more, to give the Consul a last chance of arriving. It is almost necessary to have an introduction to the people we are in search of; and now
nearly said, for indeed
;

than in the ^ towns

we
us,

are without one, for Ali the

Mehed has
the

failed

and

it

seems very like looking for a needle in a

off into

bundle of hay, to be starting

after the

Hamad alone

Anazeh.

Their whereabouts, even on the

map, we do not know. Still, after waiting till this morning for the post to come in, and then receiving no news from Aleppo, it seemed foolish to waste more time. The caravan road down the river is

U(.

Bcdotiin Tribes of
post would

tJie

Etiphraics.

[ch. xvir,

open, or the

not have arrived,

foiv

thouQ;h the river has risen nine or ten feet in the

last three days, it

has not yet cut the track

S.'s

and

the cause of Mr.

elsewhere.

delay must

be looked for

Wilfrid, to ensure a start to-day,

brouo;ht into the

first thino;

in

had the camelsand loaded the the mornino-, and sent them on, with

town

over-nio-ht,

orders to wait for us just out of sight of Deyr, over

the

brow of the hill. He then went to the Serai and announced our departure. The Pasha affected at first extreme surprise to hear that we were

leaving him, although Ave had told

tention yesterday,
"

him

of our in-

and asked in which direction we

are starting," Wilfrid said, "

were going.
the

We

on

Tudmur
shall

road,

and

if

Ave

do not come across

the Anazeh, Avhom of course Ave should like to see,

AA^e

go on as far as that toAvn, and so to Da-

mascus.

We

think that perhaps the Consul Beg has-

been delayed at Aleppo, and

to

Tudmur

to saA^e time,
"

may have gone straight and that we may find him

is

there."

Hiiseyn.

But the road

is

not safe

it is

impossible you should go alone.

find your AA\ay
is
;

You

Avould not

there

no

Avater,

and the country

inhabited only by robbers."

alone,

came through the Jezireh

"Yet we and no harm hapWilfrid.

pened to us. AVe are Avell armed and well mounted ; and you have told us that the Anazeh are far aAA^ay,
fighting the Eoilla in the south.

Common
Huseyn.

robbers-

Avould not A^enture to attack us."

"You

CH. xvn.]

Two

Gentlemen of Palmyra.

19
is

must wait
to-moiTow.

at least for tlie caravan

I

which

s^oins:
it,

will send for the chief

men

in

and

they shall be answeral^le for your safety."

Wilfrid,

" Unfortunately our camels have already marched,

and

if

them."

we do not Huseyn
tell

set out soon

(to his

we

shall not

overtake
for the

servants). "

Send

Tudmuri, and

them

to

come

to

me

at once."

The Tudmuri

appeared.

There were two of

if

them, respectable, well-to-do people,

one could
of
fifty,.
:

judge by their clothes

other,

the elder, a
I

man

with a handsome, but, as

thought, foxy face

the

a very fine-looking young fellow, with an

out-spoken manner which impressed us fiivourably.

They

was quite impossible their caravan could be ready to-day but to-morrow they would
said
it
;

be at the Pasha's orders.

that at least

Wilfrid, however, insisted

;

we must

join our camels

and, after a

long argument and a private conversation between

the younger man was mare and told to accompany us, as. soon as we had had breakfast. This was perhaps not quite what we wanted but, as we were really in the Pasha's hands about going at all, Wilfrid did not think it prudent to make any further objections ; so, after a last meal and the usual farewells and good wishes exchanged, we rode away for the

Huseyn and the Tudmuri,

sent to fetch his

second time from Deyr, with a strange mixture of

gratitude to

Huseyn

for his kindness,

ment

at his interft-rence

and of resentwith our plans. It was a

;

great thing however to be gone

and, in spite o

20

Bedoidn Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en.

xvn,

the proverb which forbids one saying, " Fountain,

I will never drink of

thy waters again,"

sit

think w^e

both made a mental resolution to

table no more.

at the Pasha's

Time however, precious time, had been wasted when we joined our camels at the appointed place, there was no Melied with them. What has become of him we do not know but we think he must have been scared away by the sight of two soldiers, Avhom Huseyn has after all thought fit
;

and,

to send after us.

This has interfered sadly with

and made him very bitter against Turkish ways and Turkish authority, indeed against authority of any kind, for in the desert, if
Wilfrid's peace of mind,

anywhere, one
shone,

feels

that freedom

is

a right.

So,

although the sky overhead was blue and the sun

we marched on

in

dogged

silence,

making

ourselves as disagreeable as

we

possibly could to

the poor soldiers, who, I dare say, are quite as un-

happy

at

having to do their duty as we are to be

it.

the cause of

dumps at having lost sight of the Euphrates and at this new wilfulness of ours in going out he knows not whither. Ferhan, honest
too, is in tlie

Hanna,

man
do

that he

is, is

stolidly indifferent

so long as his camels are fed

his

duty hj them.
;

Ali,

where he goes, and he is allowed to the cavass, is no longer

glory of going

with us

he could not
in

resist the

back to Bagdad

the Valy's suite, and bade us

good-bye some days ago.

The Jelaas boy

is

the

CTT.

XVII.]

JVc Gather

Manna.
is

21

only merry one of the party, for he

going home.

As to Mohammed, know what to make

the

Tudmuri, we hardly yet

of him, except that he seems

anxious to oblige and to be of use.

He

is

certainly

an ornamental addition to our party, as he is well mounted on a grey Shuemeh Shah, and carries a
lance fifteen feet long.

He
;

seems more of a Bedouin

than a townsman, and Wilfrid thinks he

may be
get rid
are to

won

over to our plans

it

but
is

first

of the soldiers, and

starve
for

ag;reed

we must that we

them out by making things as uncomfortable them as we can. So they have been told that they must expect no rations from us, and must keep watch all night. AVe think that in this way they

may

be induced to go home.
are

We

encamped
of

in a

snug wady, about ten

;

miles south-west

and Mohammed has which They are found by there are great numbers now.

Deyr

been teaching Wilfrid

dio-oino-

how

to find truffles, of

with a

stick,

wherever a crack

is

seen in the

ground or an appearance observed of a heaving of the soil, just as one sees over tulip bulbs in the
spring.

There, with a

little

practice, the

kemeyes

are discovered, only a few inches from the surface.

They

lighter

and soft, like potatoes, but much and some we found this evening were as big as both Mohammed's fists. They occur in light soil, where there are no stones, and prefer rather
are white
;

high ground.

Wilfrid, though a novice in the art,

picked up a dozen or so after

we encamped, enough

22

Bedouin Tribes of the Btipkrates.

[ch.

xvh.

to

make a
the

meal.

They can be eaten raw, but

It has

are

much
is

better boiled.

been suggested that this

manna which was eaten in the wilderness. March 25. Fortune has favoured us in our plan

of

gettinix rid of the

soldiers.

wolf came last

a mare and

night and prowled about our camp, paying such a

disagreeable

amount

of attention to

morning he begged to be allowed to go back to Deyr. His -companion, too, followed suit, explaining that he had only the day before come back from the war in Armenia, and that it was very hard on him to be
foal belonging to one of them, that this

sent out on such

single

night

at

home.
go.

an expedition, without even a We sympathised most

It

heartily with both of them, of course,

agreed to
to give

let

them

and readily was necessary, however^

of dismissal, so Wilfrid wrote French to Zakki Beg, who understands a few words of that language, explaining that we
line in

them a paper

and had nothing to feed the men with, while we had full confidence in Mohammed as a protector. With this document and a shilling a-piece for bakshish, they departed homewards in high delio;ht.
really did not
escort,
Still

want an

Ali the Melied did not

make

his appearance,

as

we

quite expected he

would

as soon as the soldiers

to

were gone, and the only thing to be done has been make friends with JMohammed the Tudmuri,
This AVilfrid pro-

really a very excellent fellow.

ceeded to do, engaging him in conversation and

CH. xvri.]

The Son of a Prophet.

it it

23

leading

to the subject of the Anazeh,

some of
rate has

whom,
seen
;

turns out, he

knows

or at

any

for

he talks about Siiliman ibn Mershid and

his death at Deyr.

He was

also,

he

tells us, ac-

quainted

with

Akhmet Beg

the

Modli Sheykh,
seen in
is

whom

he describes as the finest

the desert, as tall as himself

six feet high).

man ever (Mohammed

is

fuUy

Jedaan, he says,

nothing

much

to look

at,

but a wonderful horseman.

tell

He knows

nothing, or at any rate will

nothing of the

any of the Bedouins, but says they are sure to pass by Tudmur in the course They do so, every year, on their way of the spring. north. He himself is the son of the Sheykh of Tudmur and his family is descended from a certain prophet, called the Nebbi Taleb, who converted the villas:es of Tudmur and Arak to Mahometanism but he does not know how long ago. His family came originally from the Beni Laam, in Nejd, and
present whereabouts of
;

established itself first in the

still

J6

He

has relations

there

and

is

going next year to get a wife from

his

own

people.

About going

to see the

Anazeh

now, he should have no objection to go with us, but

he does not know where they he says, go on to Tudmur.
are.

We had better, His uncle and the

caravan will overtake us to-night.

had not gone far, when a large caravan of some two hundred camels came in sight, travelling from the west towards us and we galloped up to We found they were from Sokhnc, a get news.
;

We

24
village

Bcdo7tin Tribes of the Euph^'ates.

[ch.

xvn.

between us and Tudmiir, and bound for

people,

buy corn. Mohammed knew some of the who by the way were all armed with guns, and who got them out for use when they saw us

Deyr

to

and an animated conversation ensued about the price of cereals on the Euphrates. To each in turn as he came up we put the question, " Have you seen anything of the Anazeh ? " and (praise be to each in turn answered, " Hamdullah God), we have seen no Bedouins." The last man in the caravan hailed us from a distance, and asked AVilfrid if he could give him any news of Faris, The question was curiously dpropos, and we stopped and had some conversation with him. He told us he was the Sheykh of Sokhne and that Faris Jerl)a was his brother. A month ao'o some of the Jerlja had taken camels belonging to him in a raid they made upon the villagers of Sokhne, and he was
galloping

up

''"'

going to Faris to get them back in

brotherhood.

riglit

of his

AVe told him,

much

to his surprise,

and that he would find him on the Khabur. He then informed us that though nothing had yet been seen of the Anazeh this spring, it was reported that they were on their way north, not more than three or four days* journey from Bir, a well and guard-house we should come to this evening. Wilfrid scribbled a
Faris's brother,

that Wilfrid also

was

note to the Consul, telling of the break-down of our

* Spelt as pronounced both by the Bedouins, and by the inhabitants of the desert towns.

cH. XVII.]

Women
tlie

in the Desert.

25

plan tlirougli

non-appearnncc of our accomplice

This he gave to the man,

the Melied, and proposing a rendezvous at Sokhne

on our way

to

Tudmur.
if

Mr. S. should arrive while he was him have it. We then rode on. After this we passed no one until about noon, Avhen we came in sioht of some tents rather out of our road, and to these we went also to ask for news. They belonged to a party of Abu Serai, one of the Euphrates tribes, and I believe, a section of the
at Deyr, to let

who promised

Aghedaat,

but

kemeyes to
home.

men were away, gone with Damascus, and women only were at
the

These received us very hospitably, bringing

so far

milk and lebben, but could give us no information.

They had come out

taken away to
sliced
tents.
sell,

from the

river, it

seemed,

to gather truffles, for besides those that the

men had

there were

plenty of others

up and drying in the sun on the roofs of their The ^vomen were very merry and goodhumoured, and I think I never saw such swarms of
children.
It

shows how

little real

daiis-er there is

in the desert, that these people should

be

left

all

alone with their flocks of sheep, and with only a few

old

men and

boys to protect them, while their

for

husbands were away

perhaps a month.

Yet

they showed no sign of anxiety.

In the course of the mornimx we had come across

a number of large l)ustards, but they were too wild
to stalk,

and now

at about

one o'clock we entered a

wady (Wady

Mefass), cut pretty deeply in the plain.

26

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en.

xvn,

and found there rock pigeons and

partridges, show-

ing that there must be water close at hand. Wilfrid shot three partridges, and in climbing to the edge
of the ravine cauoht
Bir, lying in the
sio;ht

of

the guard-house of
us.

Wady

about a mile ahead of

We

would willingly have avoided the place, for Mohammed informed us it was occupied, and we have now a perfect horror of soldiers and the police
;

but

it

was absolutely necessary we should

fill

our

waterskins, and the only well for

there.

many

miles

was
like

We

are rather afraid

still

of the Pasha's

suddenly sending after us or coming himself,

Pharaoh,

who

repented that he had

let

the children

of Israel go, and would have liked to hide our en-

campment, but this necessity of water compelled us, and luckily, as it turned out, for we have obtained
a,uthentic news.

The well
Oporto")
is

of Bir (as

you say the "harbour of

an important feature in this part of the

it is

world, for

the only watering-place between

Deyr and Soklme, and it has been occu^^ied for some years as a strategical point by the government.
sergeant

There

is

a square guard-house on the usual

it

Euphrates model, and we found

occupied by a
in

and three men.

it last

The building was

all

rather a dilapidated state, as Jedaan burnt

that

could be burnt in
the Bishari
hills,

winter on his

which, by the way,

way from we saw pretty

plainly this morning.

one,

The well

is

a very ancient

cased with solid stone and about sixty feet

cii.

xvii.j

L'homme
The water
never
is

Propose.

27

deep.
tell

not particularly good, but, tliey

It
is

us,

foils.

drawn by means
of the zaptiehs

of a

leathern bucket, but

iiccidentally
well,

oiie

having

dropped his ayhdl (head rope) into the

climbed down to fetch

are in the masonry.

polite

some steps there The men were, of course, very

it Ijy

and very anxious that we should stop the we would not do, as Wilfrid had found a nice grassy spot about a mile off down the Wady, and there we now are.
night in their barracks, but this

As we were pitching our tents, a string of camels ame by from the south, and we learned that they were a party of Abu Kamis Arabs come to fetch
water for their camp, which
Bir,

march from and that only a day's march beyond them are
is

a day's

the tents of the Ajajera, the advanced guard of the

Anazeh, while Jedaan himself with

just beyond these.

all

the Sebaa are

This

is

indeed good news, and

now we

are sorry at having sent the note about

;

Sokhne to Mr. S. but we cannot miss the opportunity, and it is settled we are to go back with the

Abu Kamis

to-morrow^ morning, stay a night with

them, and then on next day to the Anazeh. Our only anxiety is lest the caravan should arrive before

we manage
with
it,

to get away, as there

may

be soldiers

and they may have orders

road.
let

to

keep us on the
disall is well.

Tudmur

Mohammed, however, seems

us hope that
is

posed to go with us, so

In the meantime this
full of

a delightful spot

hollow

deep pasture, where the mares and the white

28

Bedouin Tribes of the Enphrates.

are feeding.

[en.

xvn.

donkey
rock

Ferlian

is

sitting

on a point of
then to the

above, calling
^'

every
!

now and
listen.

camels

Ha-6

lia-6

lia-6!" whereat they stop

and turn
while

their heads

round to

Hanna has
very merry,

got the three partridges in a pot, and

is

Ghanim has brought up

it

his rebdh

and

is

tuning

for one of his chants.

There are a pair of

kestrels wheeling about,

nest somewhere close

and I think they have a by. The evening i& calm, and
alas
I
"

we are all March

forgotten

in

good

spirits again.
!

26.
to

Alas

suppose

I I

must have
wrote

say " inshallah

when

my

journal last night, for dinner was hardly over and

the mares tied up and our beds laid,

when

a sound

of shoutino; in the direction of Bir announced that

For a moment we deluded ourselves with the vain hope that it might be robbers, or merely some of the Abu Kamis going home, but our hearts misgave us already that something worse had happened. In a few

some people were coming our way.

minutes, four zaptiehs apj^eared at the door of the

servants' tent, piled their

arms

in front of the

fire,

and

sat

down.

Neither Wilfrid nor I had the heart

meaning of this was, but Mohammed shortly afterwards came to our tent with the message, which we guessed before it was out of The Pasha had sent an express, with his lips. orders that we were to proceed no further, but to wait for the caravan, which would arrive to-morrow, and then we should receive further instructions.
to inquire Avhat the

cii.

XVII.]

Arrested I

29

The news sounded very ominously, and Wilfrid

said to

me

in English, " I suppose

ourselves under arrest."

But

to

we may consider Mohammed and

was necessary to affect a cheerful do anything that Huseyn might think best for our safety so Wilfrid went to the zaptiehs and bade them make themselves at home, which indeed they had every intention of doing already, for they had orders to keep guard over us
the
others
it

willingness

to

all night.

He

learned, in talking to them, that Ali

the

Mehed had passed through

them

Bir that morning,

for a talk,

and had stopped, as and that he had told had given him, and I all which proves that
if

Arabs always do,

of the

two mej idles we

daresay a great deal more,

he m-ust be a chatterbox, even

he has not betrayed us to the Pasha.

We w^ere far

too miserable to sleep, but spent the night in vain

regrets at our folly in sending back the
so soon to Deyr.

two soldiers They of course had gone back post-haste to get home and had put Huseyn on the alert, and he, acting with more promptitude than we could have expected of him, had sent off this disgusting messenger to stop us. The annoying part of it is that if we had only waited till we got to Bir and then sent them away, all would have gone right. But at the time we did not know the existence of this guard-house, and we expected Ali the ]\lehed to meet us, and we had caught at the first chance of being rid of our tormentors. Full of gloomy forebodings, the least of Avhich was an immediate return

30

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

to

[ch.

xvh-

under escort

Dcyr, and the worst a

execution as Eussian spies,

night, sometimes

summary we passed a miserable

flight

dreaming wildly of

on our
in the

mares, sometimes of bribing the zaptiehs, and some-

times of resistance by force of arms.

But

morning more prudent counsels prevailed, and we aOTeed to wait for the caravan and learn the worst.

The worst has proved to be better than we The order was nothing more than that expected.

we were

to keep close to the caravan

his uncle

till

we got

to

Tudmur, JMohammed and

there.

Hassan being

held responsible to the Pasha for our safe arrival

We

agreed then to go on for the present in

the direction required of us, trusting to have another

opportunity of eluding our guardians and getting

away

but for the moment our hopes are frus-

trated.

We

cannot accompany the

is

Abu Kamis.
fellow,

Mohammed, who

really a

very light of the Pasha's order,

well go on.
It didn't

good and

makes

as soon as ever

the caravan appeared in sight, said

matter so long

we might as as we kept on

Tudmur road, and it was no use waiting for the others if we had sooner be alone. So on we went, Wilfrid now the zaptiehs making no opposition, spoke seriously to Mohammed, told him exactly what it was we wanted, and asked him to help us.
the

He

promised him at the same time a handsome pre-

sent on the day

we

should reach Jedaan's camp, and

the Tudmuri without more ado promised to do his best. He only insisted that at present we must go

cH. XVII.]

Mohammed

Consoles

its.

on at

where we should be certain to get information, and probably someoiie

least as far as Sokline,

who
than

could take us to Jediian.

He

himself could

knew no more Anazeh might be, and had never gone down far into the Hamad. It was not a place to go to alone, as there was no water, at least none that could be found by merely looking It was very hot, and we had only about for it. two waterskins with us, so we were fain to be This settled, content and wait for better times. Mohammed became very confidential, and told us with much humour, how he had received special
not do this without assistance, as he

we

did where the

injunctions from the Pasha not to let us out of his

sight.

Huseyn's

last

words

to

Mohammed, holding

him

familiarly by the ear, after the manner of the great Napoleon, had been, " Mind, whatever hap-

pens, they are not to go near the Bedouins.

them

Take Tudmur, and see them on without any more nonsense to Damascus and mind, no
straight to

Bedouins, no Bedouins !"

Mohammed
ear.

lauo;hed loud

and long at the recollection of Pasha holding him by the

this scene,

"

and of the They are all

the re-

pigs," he added, " these Turks."

About two miles from

well,

Bir,

we came upon

mains of a subterranean aqueduct, leading from the

and a large tank, probably of Roman construction, by which the plain was anciently irrigated, for in winter there is no want of water underground in the wady, and here it had been stored. Mohammed

32
called

Bedouin Tribes of the EiLphrates.

it

[en.

xvn.

El Khabra.

This was no doubt in ancient

times a high road from Palmyra, and, likely enough,

the very one along which Zenobia fled

when

defeated

by the Eomans.

There

is

now

a fairly well-defined
traffic

camel-track, as some of the

corn

between

Bagdad and Damascus passes this way. The soil was light and sandy, and full of kemeyes, which every here and there cropj^ed up above ground. ]\Iohammed tells us that they sell for one piastre and
XI

half the oke, or two-pence halfpenny the pound, in

Damascus, and two and a half piastres at Aleppo.

This year they are so plentiful, that while
pitching our tents last night,

we were

Mohammed

picked up

a large basketful in
I

little

over a quarter of an hour.

counted them.
size

There were a hundred and two,

of potatoes,

about the
large,

but

a few were very

and one measured twelve inches round.

He

So that a man might get a camel load, two hundred okes, worth
reckoned them to w^eigh six okes.
thirty-five or forty shillings in the day, but for this

he would have to travel a couple of hundred miles,

and

fast too, for the

kemeyes

will not

keep more

than a few days, unless sliced up and dried, when they last practically for ever. Mohammed only
recollects one season as

good as the present one, and

years ago.

that was

when he was a boy twenty

this

The

heavy rains and snows

is

winter are probaljly the

all

cause of the present plenty, at which

rejoicing.

the country
of

The

tribes

are

now independent

corn for the year.

cii.

xvir.]

Dull March.
march to-day, and
so that Wilfrid

We
who

made

a rather Ion 2; dull

the sun was very oppressive, so

much

rode his delul

off

all

the morning was constantly

dropping

to

sleep

and almost

off the

camel.

The only amusement was a fox-hunt which Wilfrid and Mohammed enjoyed in the afternoon without me. They had a breakneck gallop over rotten ground for a couple of miles, and came back in
triumph with the
are
skin.
It
is

nearly white.

We

encamped

this

evening in a great open plain, the

the Bishari hills to

outskirts of the

Hamad, having

the north-west of us, a long ridge, the continuation

in fact of the Sinjar,
stretches all the

which under

different

names

way from

M(5sul to Damascus.

March

27.

Passed

another caravan from Da-

mascus, fourteen days on the road.

that a certain truffle hunter of
in the

They

report

Tudmur, being down Anazeh some days ago, with two hundred camels they had taken from the Eoala. Jedaan was said to be coming

Hamad, met a party

of Sebaa

north, having, they assured us, " ruined" his enemies.

We

are pretty sure, then, to get

news

of our friends

at Tudmur, if not before. by any means so anxious are, for they are making

These camel
to

men

are not

meet the Anazeh as we their journey now, on the

I

strength

of the

Bedouins being away south.

road,

we are nearly the first travellers along this who have watched for spears on the horizon with any feelings but anxiety. As it is, I think
suppose

even a ghazu would be Av^elcome to Wilfrid.

VOL.
11.

34

Bedoinn Tribes of the

Another fox-liunt
;

Eiiplirates.

[ch.

xvn.

but

tliis

time an unsuccessful

one, for

lie

had too much

start,

and

after

three
hills

miles at a racing pace,

we

got

among some low

of us.

where he escaped, though only a few yards in front The mares do their work in a marvellous manner, considering that they have to travel every

day and

are only grass fed, but Hagar, directly she

off,

sees a fox, goes

and nothing

will stop her.

is

follow as I can on Tamarisk, who, though slow,

stayer.

AVe also saw three gazelles, and tried to get

or frilled bustards,

some houbdras,

by riding round

them

in a circle as

we have done

in the Sahara, but

here they refuse to hide their heads in the bushes,

and take
o'clock

flight

always just too soon.

to a broad flat

we came
in the

At eleven wady with white

still

chalk

clifis,

middle of which was a small pool

sufficient

of rainwater, rapidly drying up, but

for our purpose of filling the skins.

Several false
it,

snipes were running along the edge of

Avao;tails.

and water
where,

After this

we

left

the track, I hardly

know

and took a point more to the south so as to avoid a low ridge of hills, which is a sort of spur from the main ridge towards which we have gradually been convergino:. We can see the white chalk cliffs under which JMohammed tells us the villaoe of Sokhne (hot) lies, so called, not because it is, as it must be, a little furnace in summer, but because there are
hot springs.

We

do not care to go into the

village,

but intend to send Ghduim in to-morrow as we pass

ClI.

XVII.]

Ghdnim
it

Sings.

35

"We liave found a splendid enough plain of rich grass, where we have stopped, feed all the Anazeli camp, if they come this way, to
south of
to get news.

for a week.

Mohammed

^nd

says there

pour of rain
lias

calls it Wadi Er Ghotha, must have been an immense downsome time this year, as he has never
hills.

seen such grass before so far from the

Ghiiuim

been singing
:

all

to-day to a tune which ruus

thus

:#_,,>ri5qi:

2,6

Bcdojiin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xvh..

set

on

tlie

face of a white slope of clialk,

cliffs

wliicli

ended in the

called

Uthahek.

To the
It then

left of it

stood eleven olive

trees in

a row, showing very

blackly against the white ground.

to us that Ave
village
further,

occurred
in the

might perhaps
sent

find

some one
in

who

could take us to Jedaan without going

and we

Ghanim
;

on the white
arrival, for

donkey.

We

timed his start and his

all

we
in

could see him

the

way

and, though

we had both
it

calculated the distance at three miles, he did

sixteen minutes, for the donkey

fast,

is

extraordinarily

going at a sort of run. Ghd,nim was not long away, and brought no news that was of any good to
us.

Mohammed had
tell

been there and was gone, and

of the village were

nobody could
Nearly
all

anything clear about the Anazeli.

the

men

away

after

kemeyes, and though one person had spoken of

Jediian's being three days' journey to the south,

he

either did not

us.

know where

or

was

afraid to go with

band of robbers had attacked the village the night before and carried off horses, camels, and sheep
belonging to a caravan.
So,

having wasted half the

morning,
that
is

we went on

in the direction of Tudmur,.

to say to the south west.

valley, with a line

Our way lay up a long broad

of perfectly regular
cliffs

to our left

and

tall hills to

our right.

Down

this the

wind blew
it

AA'ith

a violence

which

can only compare with a Mistral in the

valley of the Ehone, and

was with the greatest

difficulty that the camels could

make head

against

.'CH.

XVII.]

An

Oasis,

37

it. It was bitterly cold in spite of all our cloaks ^nd wraps, and we were chilled to the bone. Thus we struggled on for about ten miles, when we came

to the head of the valley, where there stood the

Tuins of a tower

and here we again

hit

upon the

aravan road, and, immediately afterwards, on ]\Iohammed, who had been all over the country lookingfor us and,

by

his account,

thing like forty miles.

must have ridden someHis white mare looked as if

what he

said Avas true.

He

told us that the hills to

for robbers,

our right were the Jebel Amiir, noted

and wished us to push on to Arak, another village some way in front of us, but we have had enough of struggling against the wind for to-day, and having come to a place where there is sufficient shelter, we have stopped. It is horribly cold, and the poor
beasts will have a sad night of
it.

March

29.

A good watch was kept

all

night by

Mohammed and Ghanim, who

time,

never seems to sleep

except sometimes on one of the camels in the day-

and we made an early start, the wind less violent than yesterday, and no longer in our faces.

At twelve we got
a wretched
houses,
a,s if

to Arak.

Like Sokhne,
perhaps

it

is

little

place, containing

fifty

and surrounded by a

mud

man

determined to get in

which looks might easily push

wall,
irriga.te

it

down.

Arak's raison d'etre appears in a spring of

indifferent water, sufficiently

abundant to

some dozen acres of land, now green with barley. It would seem, according to Mohammed, that there

2)S

Bedouin Tribes of the

siicli little villao;es

Ettpliratcs.

[ch.

xyh.

is

a chain of

at irreoular intervals

all

along

tlie

foot of the hills

from Damascns to the

call

Euphrates, oases one

may

them.

Of

these,

Tudmur

is

the most important.

Their existence

must have begun

in ancient times as halting-places

likely of

on the Palmyra road, and they were very

importance then, but

now

they represent only just

irrigate.

the value of the land their springs can

Like

all

the villages bordering on the desert, they

are dreary to the last degree, every blade of grass

and every
for miles

stick of

round them.
buried,

brushwood having been devoured It is at or near Arak, howtells

ever,

that
is

Mohammed

us

his

ancestor

the
it

23rophet

and he

will not

admit that
the

is

not an important place.

ibn Ali ibn Abu-Taleb,

Mohammed

ibn Hanafiyeh

such
our

is

holy man's

name who converted Arak, then

Islam,

a Kafir town, to

and from

whom

Mohammed AbdaUah
little

claims descent.

The only
have
there
is,

interest

these

desert

villages

that they give one a good idea of

like.

what
fancy
vil-

the towns in Central Arabia must be

is

no

clifierence

between them and the

any part of Arabia. The population, though not quite pure, is mainly composed of real Arabs, and has little in common w4th that of the Syrian towns beyond the language.
lages of the Jof, or indeed of

Mohammed
here and at

tells

us that several of the best families

the Beni Laam, one beyond Bagdad, and

Tudmur came from

is

branch of which

settled

cii.

XVII.]

We Make

Acquaintance with Robbers.

39

another in the Jof.

He

took us in to drink coffee

viJkxge, a

with the Sheykh of the

very worthy okl

man, whom we found surrounded by his friends, and among them a party of the Amur roLbers, whom ]\Iobammed chaffed considerably about their profession, asking them why they had not paid us a visit kist night and saying that the Beg had been waiting to receive them, and woukl have made them
a present of
all his

spare bullets.

The men laughed

had known. As it was, they had stolen a donkey and a gun from some passers by. The Amiir are a tribe and not a mere baud of robbers, nor are they all at war with society; but they have no Sheykh, and each man sets up his They tent where he likes and behaves as he likes. are sometimes joined by deserters and escaped felons, but not in any great numbers and the villages of Tudmur, Arak, and Sokhne send their camels and sheep to graze with the more respectable of them in the spring, and eat and drink with them when they meet. They are, all the same, a very low tribe

and

said tbey wished they

indeed, and neglect even the virtue of hospitality to

strangers.
If

you dismount

at

their

tents,

Mo-

hammed
Amur,

says,

they strip and rob you.

anxious to visit a

Wilfrid was
of

camp

of these

which the robbers we had made acquaintance with, said one was close by, so ]Moliammed, who seems to be on good terms with everybody in the country, offered to go with him. He had a reason, too, of his own for this, as he

40
wanted

Bcdo7iiii

Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en. xa-ii.

to see after a filly he has with the

at grass,

ment
while
I

at
I,

Amiir and to order some sheep for our entertainTudmur. The two set off then together,

not caring to go so far out of the road, for

was

tired,

went on alone

to overtake the camels.

found them

in the plain of

Tudmur,

across

which
hills

we marched
o'clock I

steadily all the afternoon.

About three
and

saw a horseman galloping from the

it

to our right, hut not quite in our direction,

guessing by the stride of the animal that

might

be Hagar,

hastened on and found Wilfrid.

He

had had a most successful expedition. He and Mohammed had found the Amur camp, and drunk
coffee

with the robbers.

He

says they are just like

their

any other Arabs, only that

smallest he has seen.
perfectly

tents

are

the

All of them had seemed on good terms with Mohammed, who had kissed the men whose tent they stopped at, as if he had been their Sheykh, and such indeed they had
called him, either out of compliment, or,
as

Mo-

hammed would make

descent.

out, because of his prophetic

The

filly

was found

the

Amur

in charge of her,

to be well, and Salah, had been ordered to

bring her and three sheep to

Tudmur

the next day.

Then they had galloped on

having long ago been
the six miles, for such
in a
little

to join us,

Mohammed
who
did

left

behind by Hagar,

we

calculated the distance at,

over twenty minutes.

She

is

a wonderful

mare.

The ruins

of

Palmyra now began

to

show very

CH. XVII.]

Longings for Home.

hills in front of us.

41

conspicuously under the

are evidently of the

They

same date as those at El Haddr, and the modern town occupies the palace just as it no doubt would at El Haddr, if El Haddr should be again inhabited. There are a few palm trees and some gardens beyond it and, still further on to But I leave the south, what seems to be a lake. It was quite descriptions for to-morrow. late before we arrived, and we have had great difficulty
in persuading

Mohammed

to allow us to

camp

out-

side the village, instead of enjoying the hospitality

of his father's house.

visit

But, by promising an early

succeeded,
I

to-morrow,

we have

hope,

in

assuaging his wrath.

sitting

We

saw a cuckoo to-day

plain,

on the ground in the middle of the

and
tent.

several swallows have

come almost

into our

Wilfrid, too, has heard a bird sing, he says,

and begins to talk of England in a w^ay I have not heard him do all the winter. This makes us more than ever anxious to get on with our mission, for as such we now look upon it, to the Anazeh, and then turn our steps homewards.

CHAPTER
selves."

XYIII.
built desolate places for

" With kings and counsellors of the earth, which

them-

Book of Job.

Politics iu

trigues

Tudmtir A blood- feuti Ali Bey tho Circassian Inand counter-intrigues A meeting in camp The Mudir lectui'ed on liis duties News of the Anazeh.

March
of
all

30.

Mohammed's
man
when they

family

consists

first

of

liis

father Abclallah,

Sheykh

of the village
is

of Tudmiir, an old

of seventy, who, as

usual

among

the Arabs

get infirm, gives in to

at the

his son in all things

and leaves him practically

head of the house. Then there are Mohammed's two wives, who of course occupy a separate apartment, and his mother and some
only one child, a
to be
little

sisters.

He
is

has

girl

of three,

and

very

downhearted at having no sou,

for it is a disgrace

what they
without

call

childless in these

countries,

male offspring. He talks of that is going next year iu consequence to the Jof and getting a third wife of his own people, the Beni Laam. He complains that there are very few
" noble "
choice for
families in

Tudmur, and hardly any

him

of a bride

among them,
in

for

though

common

wives are to be had

plenty,

the price of only ten pounds apiece as

and at compared

CH. XVIII.]

Mohammed^s Family.

with the forty pounds payable for one of noLle

hirth,

he scorns to ally himself basely, and would

not take a bourgeoise " even as a present."

His

mother was a ]\Ioali, though not of the family of the Sheykhs, and he considers himself at least half
a Bedouin.

The

"

noble families " of

Tudmur

are

those which trace their origin from the Nejd, having come in, as we say in England, " with the conquest,"

while the rest are mere Syrians, or, at best, Arabs Of the former Abdallah is from the Euphrates. Sheykh, and there is a second king in this Brentford, a
is

In old times, that to say twenty years ago, before the Turks got
of the base-born.

Sheykh

possession of the town, the

stant feud

two

classes

and often

at war.

One

micles was killed in a fvay of this

his ancestors

were at conMohamvued's sort, and most of

of

seem to have met with violent deaths.^'' Abdallah's house, to which we were taken early
morning,
is

this

just inside the gate of

it,

Tudmur,

forming in fact almost a part of

as stables

for several of

and for stowing away the rooms, used goods, are built into the masonry of the old tower. It commands a fine view of the inner town, which is to me all the more interestinof from beino- filled with modern houses, as these from their meanness set off the ancient walls and temples to advantage. This inner town was in old times no doubt a fortified

palace

after

the fashion of the building

we

existing in the Jof, before

* Compare the state of things mentioned by Mr. Palgrave as its coucLuest by Ibn EashiJ.

44

Bcdoiun

T^'ibcs

of the Euphrates,

[en. x^II^.

found at El Hadclr, and both must be nearly of the

same date. It is square, and the walls have at some more recent time been built up again and
patched out of the older

Eoman

materials, for the

gateway is Saracenic. The effect of this medley, though architecturally a barbarism, is very picturesque and serves to mark the history of the place.

Some of to move
have
it

the blocks of stone are prodigious enough

to admiration,

even the Tudmuri, who will

that they were put there

by Siiliman ibn

Dtioud.

Others on the contrary affirm that the

the days of
of the

English once had possession of the country, long

before

Solomon, and

were the real

builders

city.

We

have constantly been

asked about this latter point of history, both here

and. in JMesopotamia,

but are quite una1)le to acis

count for the

belief
for

belief,

which
all

certainly prevalent, of

England's claim to

this

part of Arabia.

The

would be strong enough to prepare the way any new occupation or annexation, if such were

ever projected.

While

we were

waitino- for

breakfast,

which

Mohammed was
come
in

very busy preparing for us with his

wives, his foxy-faced uncle Hassan appeared, having

with the caravan from Deyr yesterday

morning.
leaving

We
Bir,

had seen

nothing of

him

since

while

we were

but somehow or another, probably waitino- in the neiohbourhood of

to get

Sokhne, he had passed us on the road and had

pushed on night and day

home, for fear of

cii.

xviii.]

The Jlhidir of Ttidniiw.

45
jMudiiv

uccidents.

He was accompanied by

the

whom we
Aleppo.
Avell

recognised as our old acquaintance Ali

Bey, the Circassian brother-in-law of the Pasha of

Tlie

Mudir seemed delighted

be, for

to see us,

a."?^

he might

he

is

the only foreigner resiout at once to us in a

dent in Tudmur, and cannot speak more than a few

words of Arabic.

He poured

strange mixture of Arabic and Turkish, and in the

ridiculously plaintive voice Circassians affect, his grief
at having to reside in such a place, relating aloud

mixed audience of Tudmuri that there was not a soul fit for him to associate with in the town. As for occupation or employment there was nothing, nothing that a
in the

most

iiaive

way

before a

gentleman could concern himself with.

were a degradation, trying to
people

His

duties.

collect taxes

from
to

who would

not

pay,

and

attending

robbery cases without soldiers or police to support

his authority.

He was

afraid of the people in the

it.

town, and of the people out of

he had been attacked by some

well

On one occasion Amur in the desert

and got his knuckles hurt in the tussle, but he was mounted and had got away. If he had known what a forlorn place he was coming to he would never have left Aleppo. He had written to his
sister,

the Valy's wife, to complain of being treated

thus,

and

to say that

he would not stay another

month in Tudmur for all the gold of Stamboul. The o'ood-natured Tudmuri listened to this with
rather contemptuous
faces,

but besought him to

4-6

Bedouin

Ti'ibcs

of

tJic

EitpJirates.

[ch.

xvni.

have patience and trust in God.

He

did not liow-

ever seem to see things in this light.

His only

companion and confidant was the mejlis or taxgatherer, a Turk from Erzeroum, long-settled at Deyr, who wore Constantinople clothes and a fez,

and looked very dirty. With him he every now and then relieved his mind in Turkish, or made him his interpreter and go-between with the
Tudmuri.
do not like this man on account of his villainous face, though Mohammed assures us that he is a good fellow and a friend of his own.

We

When we had
way
for

all

sat talking thus in a friendly

and finished our break]\Iohammed, inspired by some evil spirit, fast, suddenly bethought him of a letter which Huseyn
some
little wdiile,

Pasha had entrusted him with for the Mudir, and, without consulting us on the prudence of delivering We saw that a mistake it, handed it to Ali Bey.'" committed, but it was too late to interwas being fere, and we could only watch the functionary's face as he read it and try and guess its contents. That they were not altogether to our advantage we were soon aware, for Ali Bey's manner suddenly became diplomatic, and he began to talk about the
dano'ers of the desert, the disturbed
state of the
rest,

Bedouin

tribes,

ghazus, hardmi and the

ofiicial

ac-

cording to the

formula, and to suggest that

liave therefore spelt

* The Arabs pronounce " Bey " as if it were "written with a g. I it with a y only when it occurs as the title of a Turkish official.

CII.

XVIII

New
all

Vexations.
tlie

47
town we
in

instead of staying encamped outside

should come with

Abdallah's
liouse.

our property to reside

In this proposal

Mohammed

bound to join, and then Hassan chimed in with a suggestion the foxy-faced was
of course as our host

that

we should put
;

ourselves

entirely

into

his

hands he would show us everything we wanted to see, and make every arrangement for us we wished Our made, and see us safely on to Damascus. hearts sank at this new turn things seemed to be
taking,

and

we dared
are,

say

nothing

about

the

Anazeh.

We
for

have refused, however, to

saying that
it

move

from where we
been made

Avill

be quite

time enoug;h to do that when arrang-ements have

our further journey.

At

present

we

have the ruins to see, and also we expect a friend to join us from Aleppo, for we still cling to the hope that the Consul
Wilfrid, however,

may
is

yet come to our rescue.

it,

very desponding about

irritable

and nearly had a

serious quarrel this afternoon with

He was in an Mohammed had joined with

Mohammed.

mood, because

Mudir in bothering and it us with this proposal of moving our camp came to a crisis when a townsman, recommended by
the
;

Mohammed
lonsf

as an intelligent blacksmith, drove a

nail into

replacing.
over,

wanted This made the cup of bitterness run

Has-ar's foot, for her shoes

and we left Abdallah's house in anger. Perhaps it was fortunate that the explosion occurred, for it led to an explanation, the result of which is

48
that

Bedouin Tribes of the EiLphrates.

Moliammecl
is

[cu.

xvin.

to

say distinctly to-morrow

whether or not he will help us to go to Jedaan. At present he maintains that there is no news of
the Anazeh at Tudmur, and thinks

we had

better

go on to Damascus, unless we are prepared to wait on indefinitely here. We cannot make out whether
this
is

a fact, or only the roundabout

to do a thing.
tlie paral)le

way Arabs
are

employ in refusing

The Arabs
They never

always like the son in

wlio said he would

re-

go to the vineyard and went

x\s

not.

fuse point blank to perform a service.

town, the Mudir and and politely offered to show us over the ruins. We went with them as in duty bound, but we were far too pre-occupied to be greatly interested, though we made pretence of counting the columns and reading the inscriptions, It was very 'pouv nous donner une contenance. hot and the Mudir soon got tired of walking about in the sun, so at last we have got rid of him, and are enjoying a few hours of quiet with the tent looped up, in full hot weather rig, and the comfortable sight of our camels and mares, making the most

we were

leavinoj the

his attendant joined us

of their day's rest, in front of us.

had a gloomy consultation this morning, Wilfrid and I, about what was next to be We have come so far and achieved so much done.
Marcli 31.
of

AVe

what we

originally put before ourselves as the

it

object of our journey, that

seems impossible

now

we

should abandon

its

comj^letion.

Yet luck has

cir.

xviic]

Hoping
us,

against Hope.

49

turned against

and a

barrier of small difficulties,

every day accumulating, bars the way to the last and most interesting scene of our adventures. It Vv^ould be too hard, if, after getting up with so much care and so much success all the minor characters of our play, Hamlet himself should have to Ijc left Yet we are threatened with the prospect of out.
finishino'

our tour amono; the Bedouins without seeinc;

Jedaan, indeed a lame and impotent conclusion.

The great
fore

plain,

which stretches southwards

l3e-

us to the horizon, contains the object of our

hopes, but

how

are

we

to reach

it ?

We
Ije

could,
last

indeed, start
for

a] one

with sufficient water to

us

two or even three days, but we might

If
it

weeks
tlie

wandering about before lighting upon the Anazeh

camp.
only

we

could get information of

would be enough, and we would not It stay a day longer here, l>ut who is to tell us? was aOTced at last that AV^ilfrid should make a final effort with ]\Iohammed, and then, if that fciiled,
direction

that I should remain here with the

nearest town,

and Ghanim rode in on the about a hundred miles

j\Ir.

camp while he two mares to Homs, the

off,

to get

information about

S.,

for

Homs

is

a station of

the Syrian telegraph,

and perhaps

find

some agent

of the Anazeh, such as there are in all the great

towns, Avho would assist us.

in five days,

and by that

They might be back time, who knows but the

AVitli this
[

Anazeh

or Mr. S. might have arrived.

plan he Avent in to breakfast at Abdallah's, while

50

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

xvm,

stayed, intending to have a morning's rest.

But

Wilfrid was no sooner gone, than the inhabitants of

Tudmnr, women as well as men, began to the camp, and made themselves so very
able ])y their impertinence, that I have

arrive at

disagree-

made up mind on no account to be left here alone if Wilfrid goes to Homs, as he proposes. Fortunately ]\Iohammed's mother and one of his wives happened to come out to pay me a visit, just as the

my

whole party of

my

tormentors were beginning to

and, thus

svvarm like bees into the tent, in spite of

could do to prevent them
that the people of this
;

Hanna reinforced, we
all

manasjed to hold our own.

The women

told

me

town are very ill-behaved, real "men of Belial," and that they themselves dare not go about alone. They brought me a present of lebben, and heUdai, a sort of sweetmeat,
of which I

am

particularly fond.

At two
lightful

came back with the denews that everything is once more arranged.
o'clock, Wilfrid
l)een

But how many times we have already

ceived
!

de-

count on nothing.

By way

of making-

better friends with

sent

jMohammed, AYilfrid yesterday him by Hanna a cloak and a pair of boots,

;

just as he Avould have done to a Bedouin sheykh

and

it

appears that, though the gifts are of small

value, the compliment has been

much

appreciated.

On

arriving at x^bdallah's house, AVilfrid found a sort

of family council going on, and a letter being read,

which had just arrived

l)y

a messenger from Deyr.

cii.

xviii.]

Conversation in

Temple of

Situ.

51

They did not

but by a

tell

him

at once

what
it

it

was about,
always a

little

manoeuvring, for
got

is

difficult thino; to

manao;e a tete-d-tete amono; these

sociable

people, he

Mohammed

alone,

under

pretext of going to see the Temple of

the Sun.
is

This stands inside the present town, and

a stable
;

used as

and by good luck he and Mohammed were allowed to go away to look at it unattended by any of the busybodies who generally dog one's steps.

When

they had climbed to the top of the

told

l;uilding

and were out of all to Mohammed, and

at all

earshot, Wilfrid spoke seriously

him

that

hazards to go to Jedaan, that

we were resolved we had left

Deyr with no other purpose than to do so, and that if he, Mohammed, would not go Avith us there, we must look out for somebody else that would. He added, ^^'hich was true, that we had taken a fancy to himself, and that if he would do us this service we should consider him as our brother. Lastly, he clinched the argument with the promise of an immense present, twenty mej idles (nearly 4/.) on the day that we should set foot in Jedaan's tent.
I

don't

vinced

know which part of the argument him, but Mohammed's manner, Wilfrid

consays,

changed at once, and he promised that henceforth he was our servant, to do what we should tell him, and as a proof of his sincerity, informed Wilfrid
that the ]\ludir's letter

had contained instructions from Huseyn to send us on forthwith to Damascus. " But," he added, " Deyr is a long way off, and we
2

52

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates.

[ch.

xviu.

need not pay any attention

as for Ali Bey,
lie is

now
ass.

to the Paslia, Avliile

a mere

All the

Tudmuri

laugh at him."

On their way back to Abdallah's hammed went on to explain that a

arrived
this

house,

Mo-

letter had morning from Deyr, which relieved Wilfrid him of all anxiety to please Huseyn. naturally supposed that it had contained some dis-

agreeable news, but the contrary

is

the case.

It

appears that there has been a long-standing rivalry

between Mohammed's family and that of the bourgeois Sheykh,

which of them should be acknowledged as Sheykh of Tudmur by the Government. Huseyn, in whose district Tudmur lies, had been
appealed to by both, and a decision had just been
given, not, as one would have supposed from

Mo-

hammed's

readiness to act against the Pasha, against

Abdallah, but in his favour.

to think that,

j\Ioliammed seemed

now the

point was gained and nothing

his obligation ceased
;

more could be expected,

this
is

but

the

common
is

rule

among

the Arabs, with

as the expectation

whom gratitude

unknown, even

of future favours.

Abdallah was at once made confidant of the

arrangement, and became very cordial with Wilfrid,

whom

he assured was as a son to him, and then one

except Ali Bey.

visitor after another, until I believe that the Avliole

town knows of

But Mohammed has undertaken that the thing shall be done, and says it docs not matter who knows of it. The
it,

CH. XVIII.]

Hdnna

falls Homesick.

53
that a

most important

bit of

news, however,

is

man

]\Iohammed sent some time ago to gather truffles in the Hamad, has come back with the news of the Sebaa being within three days' march, sixty or
seventy miles,

Tudmur, coming slowly north. Tlie man states that he saw young Meshur ibn Mershid, the Gomussa Sheykb, the same who is
of
said to

have killed Ibn Shaalan, and who sent us the message of invitation when we were at Aleppo.
It

seems he

is

a friend of

Mohammed's, who now

off,

is

quite as eager as w^e are to be

for

Mohammed
I
Ije-

piques himself on his Bedouin connection, and his

friendship with the
lieve

Anazeh sheykhs, though

Jedaan.
;

he does not

know

We
now

have only the

that w^e have

]\Iudir

now

to settle

with

and,

the support of

Mohammed's

family,

we need no

longer hesitate to

speak plainly of our intentions.

This Wilfrid intends doino; to-morrow.

It
is

tremendously hot, and the desert to the

;

south looks like a simmering furnace

hunter,

but the

truffle

who came from

it

with the news and who

was here just now, has pointed us out a little tell on the far horizon, from which he says that you can see another, and that from that one you can see Ibn Mershid's camp, so that it no longer looks to us
the absolutely trackless waste
Ajyril
1.

it

did this morning.

morning Hanna came to me in tears, and announced his intention of leaving us. He has been ailing for some days with home-sickness, eats nothing, and I think feels the heat of the sun.

This

54

Bedottin Ti'ibes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

xvm.

Moreover, yesterday after dinner

say,

lie

lieard Wilfrid

by way

of accounting for

]\Ir.

S.'s

non-appear-

ance, tliat he thought the Consul

must be dead whereupon he rushed out of the tent howling, and then sat down on the ground, drew his cloak over
his head,

and refused

to

move

or speak for the rest

of the evening.

about his children,

he shall
iTO

Now, he has had terrible dreams whom he has made up his mind never see again, and insists tlmt he must
at once.
It is

home

no use

arQ;uiiio;

with him,

poor man, and

we cannot be

angry, for he has

served us three months without a grumble, and put

up with all sorts of hardships, and shown an amount of courage which could hardly have been expected of him, mere Christian of Aleppo that he is. He thinks, too, that we have been deluding him all along with false hopes of meeting the
Consul, to
"

whom

he

is

attached, and

now he
!

You tell me the Consul is dead! Boohoo boohoo What is really j)i'ovoking is that Ferhan, the faithful Agheyl, who hitherto has done his duty,
!

says, "

and more than

plaint,

his duty,

without a word of comsuit, and now comand of having been

has followed Hanna's

plains of being overworked,

deceived into undertaking a journey he never bar-

gained

for.

Neither he nor Hiinna will go to the

Hamad
desert,

with us. They have had enough of the and propose joining a caravan which is starting for Horns in a few days, and getting home as fast as they can. AVe hardly know what to do

(11.

XVIII.]

Mutiny

in

Camp.

55
will

or say to all tins,

beyond hoping that they

think

it

over,

and suggesting how many

valualjle

articles there will be for division

amono- the servants

when the journey is over and the camp broken up. Money they protest they do not care about. Wliat
good will
it

be to them
?

if

they are taken out to die

in the wilderness

But

am

sure the thought of

the pots and pans he

may

inherit

by persevering
is

to

the end will go far with Hanna, and Ferhdn

too

good a creature to desert us

I

if

Hanna

stays.

So

have given them

Everything

till

this

evening to make up

their minds.
else is arranged.

We went

this

morn-

ing in state to the Mudir's, and he received us with

many
niture,

apologies in the wretched liovel he inhabits.

It is a ground-floor

without
to

flooring,

windows, fur-

make it comfortable, and looks more like an empty stable than an official However, Ali Bey is a well-bred man, residence.
or anything
<and did the
politeness.

honours of his " serai

"

with the utmost

details

little

comedy then began, the

had been arranged beforehand with Moand after the usual compliments and the usual cups of coffee, Wilfrid informed the Mudir that we were come to say goodbye, that we had just heard of the arrival of the Anazeh in the neighbourhood, and were starting for their camp in
of which

hammed

the morning.

Ali

Bey

in his broken Arabic

began

to expostulate, but

Mohammed and

the rest of the

audience,

who had been packed

for the occasion.

56

Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphraies.

liim to go on,

[ch.

xvm

would not allow

liini

and overwhelmed

with a torrent of words.

He had

been un-

lucky enough to remark that the Bedouins were

robbers, and this

was the

tions from the crowd.

signal for loud expostula" No, no," they called out,

" the

Anazeh

are quite another thing from the

Amur

and the people you, Ali Bey, are accustomed to in the desert. The English Beg knows better than that." " But," argued the Mudir, " what does the Beg want with the Anazeh that he must go off to them to-morrow. Why cannot he Avait till they come
here
%

"

Wilfrid

"

We

are obliged to be back in

our

own

country, and cannot afford to wait, and

seeinsf the

cannot go without
country
it
is

Anazeh.

In our

we own

the custom to travel for sight-seeing,

just as in yours for trade.

He who
'

sees

most gets

most honour (akram), and if I were to return to my friends and to tell them, I have seen Bagdad, and seen Aleppo, and seen the Shammar in Mesopotamia, and Deyr and Palmyra, but I did not see the Anazeh,' they would laugh at me, and my
journey would be a shame (aib) to me."

Now

the

word

a'ih

is

in constant use,

and
its

may

say abuse,

among

the

Arabs, both in
;

metaphorically
a shame
if

as

we

sense and " it will be say in English,

literal

you don't give

me

sixpence

"

and on

this occasion it exactly suited the understandings of

the audience, and

loudly.

they applauded the sentiment

"You

see,"

they echoed
Be"' if o

to Ali

Bey, "it

will brinoo

shame on the

he does not see

cii.

XVIII.]

lie arg7ic 07ir Case at

the Mudir

tlic

Scra'i.

57

.Tedaaii."

Still

made a
But
it

feeble attempt at

opposition, on the score of his having no soldiers to

was unanimously voted that soldiers would he quite out of place on an expedition of this sort. To arrive with an escort would in its turn bring " shame " on Jedaan, and that could not be thought of, for Jedaan is a power in Tudmur. As a last resort, the good man proposed to go himself with us, and we of course had
send with
lis

as escort.

to express great delight at the idea.

But Hassan,
about the
told

who has been taken

into

confidence

twenty mej idles, took the

position

]\Iudir aside

and

him

in a whisper, that he really thought a

man

in his

had other business

to attend to than that of

running about after Frank travellers among the

Bedouins, and Ali
like

Bey was

quite nonplussed

so,

other
lie

functionaries

overpowered by popular
us have our

clamour,

has washed his hands of anything that

let

may
us
if

happen, and has

own

wa}'.

Indeed, I do not see exactly

how he
to

could prevent

he would, and
rest of the

we

are

start

to-morrow

mornino'.'" o

day we have been spending in looking at the ruins, which we are now better able to appreciate than we were yesterday, and in paying Abdallah a farewell visit, and in making a few purThe
chases.

Mohammed
longer.

has

made
Bey

AVilfrid a present of

We have

siuce heard that Ali

did not hold out at his post

seized with a panic

more than ten days

to Deyr.

He was

and

fled

58

BedGuin Tribes of the Euphrates,

lie

[ch.

xviu.

a stone head
to

dug up here
arch,
after

last year,

a relic of no

great value, but authentic.

It has

probably served
fashion
of

decorate

an
is

the

the

sculptures at El Haddr. of both places

Indeed, the architecture

singularly alike.

Abdallah

tells

hie that no Franks have been to

last

Tudmur

for the
;

two

years.

Formerly some came every spring

but

some reason he cannot explain, they have not appeared here. Still Palmyra must be too well known for any description of the ruins to be necessary. I asked him whether he regretted the
lately, for

old state of things before the Turkish occupation,

and he

told

me

" No,

it

was better now,

for the taxes

were levied more regularly.

they would be
times
satisfied.

When

the

town was
in

tributary to the Bedouins, one never

knew when
too,

The

feuds,

old

made

life

insecure."

So even Turkish govern-

ment seems
]\Iesrab,

to be

better than

none at

all.

The
Sebila

a section of the Eesallin tribe of

Anazeh, used to levy tax on Tudmur, and exercise

tlie
is

rio'ht

of escortino; travellers there, l)ut

now

all

changed, and the route from Damascus through

is

Karieteyn

quite
all

safe.

The

old

man

has been
here,

very kind to us

the time

we have been
reoret.

and

we have taken

leave of

him with

last

attempt at delaying our journey has been

made.

We

were

ridino;

out of the eate of

Tudmur
bego'ed

wdien Hassan met us, and with an air of importance

laid his liand

upon

my

marc's bridle.

He

(ir.

xviii.]

A
me

Last Scare.
lie

59

to say, and then inhad news had arrived from the desert. A young Tudmm^i had just returned from a truffle-hunting expedition, and had been robbed and stripped by a party of Roala whom he had been unlucky enough to meet. Iljn Shaalan, the Koala Sheykh, was marching in force ao-ainst the Sebaa, and it would be most dano'erous I did not know for us to 2:0 out at this moment. what to make of this story, for Hassan is by way of being in our interests, and has even talked of to listen to Avhat

me

had

formed

in a whisper that

going with us

but Wilfrid, as soon as he heard

to be nonsense,

it,

pronounced

it

and

told

Hassan

to

bring the young

man

that

we might
a
rather

question him.

AVe had not

appearance,

lono- to

wait before Hassan

made

his

followed by

stupid-looking

youth.

very few questions sufficed to show that had been got up for the occasion, and the answers w^ere so absurd, that JMohammed from the very first lost control of himself and burst into a The laughter was catching, loud peal of laughter. and soon the whole circle of listeners had joined in
the tale
it,

including the youth himself, wdio, wdien somemashlahlb

Ijody took hold of his very respectable

(cloak), asking if that

robbed him
object

of,

was the cloak the Roala had no longer attempted to deny that

the whole story

was a romance.

What

Hassan's

was we could not

discover, but he evidently

wished to prevent our starting to-morrow.

CHAPTER
The odd
trick

XIX.

forty "We start for theA fast Songminutes The Hamad of the desert lark A real ghazii Looking for the Anazeh Jebel Ghorab We discover tents Jedaan Married for the fifteenth time and yet not hajipy Blue blood in the desert A discourse on hors(3-breeding We are entrusted with a diplomatic mission to

and four by honours

Consul at

last

the Eoula.

SONG OF THE DESERT LARK.

idll
Love, love, in
vain

we count

the days of

Sprinj

T^=^ird

>N^>.-^^-* *-

=S:

- *-

^|-'2=^^^=?Fid^"

^gE^^^^^l^r^^F^^j

Lost

is

all love's

pain,

Lost

tlie

songs we

sing

^
#
,

w 1^
i-.^n^
I

^>

I-

r;^r3=t

~^^'^~

ifci!:

3:

cir.

XIX.]

So;i-

of the Desert Lark.

6r

:fa
,i-H

S-->s:
1
1

3=E=i^^^^3^
sum
mer
ram,

Sun

shine and

r-W l-^;-H*-^

-^ ** * *^* ^

'^9

1*i
.#

:iie^3E^

m$^^^

:iq:

S
_

Win

ter

and

Sprino

a - gain

N/

^mm

'

:E-F^^i^
Still

:E^die.

the years shall bring,

But we

^S

^
=^I-^^^

^-1

_,_:i.__N_;S__>

62

Bedotnn Tribes of

the Etiphrates.

[en. xix.

iz^

a
His
torcli,

35^r-Jlove, the

sun,

-Jfkz=w.

.^2ZZ=

b^^r^^tl

:^

^ziSi^zr^grzigijrt^

J5>

ji.^zi^--g--i;g=i^i -|
Turns
to the stor-niy

n^zdz-grgrigrzi^zirzl:
],ike a fair

west.

dream be

gun,

|^^^V^_.S_i,^'

^=^i:L^iiii^i^

?-l-^

i^J^i
-

:=)-

n^5=E
while our
souls
.

Clian

ging to

jest

Love,

it^ l=^3^^iii

II.

XIX.]

So;i^ of the Desert Lark.

<3;>

s\iv

one.

Still

lot

us

sin

the

su'.\

; ^-JK
Siiiii

ii#T;i:

li^izziz^
rest,

and

for

p^t

tlio

And

80

dio.

~:

?-

^ipi'i!
niii'ht,

-.

AVo

lUMtluT

o(

us

slept
at

iiUK-h

last

for

wo woro

[oo imu'h o-xciun

the thouo'lit

of

sitnitinLi, aiul

too anxious
slunilJ

lest, at tlio last

moment,
roaminsi"

some

aee'ulent

again ilelay
A\ iltViil,
n

us.

Al>out two

o'eloek in the nu>rninir,

who was
:

nbout, heard a sounJ of

ilark

oiees roniiug
I

through the
presently

towards us from {he

own

iiiul.

afterwards.
hearts sank

Ferhau
as

rhalleng.'il
a a

i\w

talkers.

Our
the

we heard
of

reply in

Turkish, and
soldiers,

knew
toi\

that

thev nuist be

parly
teared.
oi'

oi'

very thing

we most
;

all

Their arrival.

reminded us disagreeibly
at
r>ir

what had hapa

pened

and

it

was

in

an\ thing but

pleasant

64

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates.

[ru. xix.

voice that Wilfrid,

they

yavash,'^
are

and was the answer f Gently, gently "). " We soldiers from the Beg and we have a message
were
'

gun in hand, asked them who what they wanted. " Yarash,

for yon."

" AVhat

Beg

the ]\Iudir

"

" No, no,

the Beg, the C^onsnl Beg.

at Arak,
Avas

He

arrived last night

and has sent us on with a letter." indeed come, and the joy in camp

Mr.

S.

may

be

imagined,

Hanna

in his usual floods of tears

all

em-

bracing Ferhan, and informing

the world that

he had never been able to believe that the Consul

Avas really dead.

We,

too,

great anxiety, only, as AVilfrid remarked,

little

were relieved from a it was a

winning the odd trick after a desperate and then finding four by honours in one's partner's hand. ^Ir. S., it appears, had not left Aleppo till eight days ago, and then had travelled day and night on the chance of catching us up, and had at last Ijroken down within fifteen miles of us at Arak. There we at once decided to go as fast as our mares w^ould carry us, and, much to the disappointment of our followers, who were already calculating on another day's rest, we ordered the tents to be struck, and a march back to Arak at
like
fight,

the

first

streak of dawn.
still

It

was

nearly dark
lonij^er

when we mounted, but

than for the
rise of

we would not wait

morning
star,

the

and started at a gallop as soon as we The zaptiehs on their tired horses made a show of accompanying us, declaring had
it

for a guide.

cii.

XIX.]

Tivclvc

Mile Gallop.

65

it was impossible they should allow us to go alone. But Hagar had quite other ideas, and after the first two miles they dropped behind and were lost to sight. And now began the longest gallop I ever took in my life. It was fifteen miles to Arak, and we never drew rein till we got to the foot of the

hill

behind which the village stands.

Wilfrid was

resolved to try what Tamarisk could do, and rode

For the first mare behaved very well, going on at her easy stride without any unnecessary hurry, and allowing Tamarisk to keep up more or less beside her, but after this, although she was not in the least excited, she would not be kept at any reasonable pace. She does not mind uneven ground full holes, and went faster and faster, till of jerboa soon Tamarisk and Wilfrid were as much out of the race as the soldiers were, and yet she would not be steadied. It was only when we came to the hills and very broken stony ground, fully twelve miles from where we had started, that I got a pull at It was by this time her and at last stopped her. daylight, and I got ofi* and waited till Tamarisk appeared toiling along gamely behind. She had
few miles

her himself, leaving Hagar to me.

my

been what

is

called

"

ridden

"

every inch of the

tired,

way, and yet she was not really

speed had been altogether too

only Hagar's
for her.

much

We

were just forty-five minutes doing these twelve miles, and Wilfrid and I are in such excellent condition that

we

did not in the least feel our gallop.

66

Bcdoitin Tribes of the Euphrates,

last

[gh, xix.

The
pace,

two miles we travelled

as

at

a more sober
hi

and the sun appeared the stone gateway of Arak.

we rode

through

We

found Mr.

S.

in

the act

of mounting to
figures in

join us, and for a

moment, seeing two

white cloaks and yellow turbans riding up to him, he w^as quite mystified, for our costume is indeed a

mongrel one, partly European, partly Bedouin, and partly fellah the result of accident rather than of

choice.

It is

not wise for Europeans to adopt a

l^y

purely Bedouin dress in the desert, as

doing so

they lose

all

the prestige of their nationality, while

at all times

on the other hand hats and riding-habits,

unpractical, are impossible in hot weather.

Be-

douin mashlakh worn over a light suit of European

clothes
is

convenient, and has the advantage of being

the usual dress of travellers in the desert, but the

kefiye or handkerchief, generally added

by them

as

a protection to the face,

is

not nearly so comfortable,

and we have adopted the turban instead. Of all head-dresses this is the most practical in campaigning. It is equally good in hot and in cold
in wind and in rain. It protects the head from a blow" as effectually as a helmet. It It can be can be torn up to staunch wounds. And above all it is used as a rope or a girdle. a pillow, the most necessary thing for a cam-

weather,

paigner to carry with him. The turban, however,

is

the badge of the fellah in these

regions,
officials

and
wear

does not

command

respect.

Turkish

cii.

XIX.]

The Pleasures of Talk.

67

the fez only, while the Bedouins fasten their kefiyes with an aghaal or camel's hair rope. However,

such
not a

is

our costume, and

it

puzzled the Consul

little.

I don't

think I ever really enjoyed talking for

till
it.

talking's sake

this

morning, but

so long without

We

had

so

we have been much to tell and to

hear, that for a couple of hours at least our tongues

never stopped an instant.

by the
since,

arrival of his successor at Aleppo,

failed us,

but to

had been detained and so had make up had travelled day and night
Mr.
S.
still

hoping to find us

at Deyr.

At

Treyf, he

had learned from some zaptiehs that we had started from Tudmur, and leaving the valley had struck across the desert straight for this place. It had been a hard ride, without food or water for the beasts for many hours. At Arak the horse he rode could go no further, and the two mares he was brinoins; for us began to sufier from sore backs, so he had stopped
short at this last stage of his journey, almost des-

pairing

of getting

up with us

after

all.

It

is

fortunate that his messenger arrived

three hours later

when he did, as we should have been off to the Hamad and out of all reckoning. Then there was
news
to hear,

political

the collapse of the Turks

before

an armistice, changes of and a thousand other things, to say nothing of a huge bundle of letters from England,
Constantinople,
ministry,
first

the

we have

received for nearly four months.

These, although hungry for news,

we have decided

68

Bcdotiin Tribes of the Euphrates,

till

[ih. xix.

homewards with our faces towards the west. Good news is not necessary to make ns happy here, and bad would only make the rest of our journey a torment,
nor to open now, nor
are fairly started
I

we

think

it is

wiser

so.

The new mares are the chestnut Saadeh Toojan we bought at Deyr, a really splendid creature, who, except for a wrung wither, does not seem to have felt the severe journey she has just made in the
and a white Hamdaniyeh Simri purchased by Mr. S. at Aleppo. This last mare was bred in the Nejd, and was given by Ibn Saoud
least,

for us

five years

ago to the Turkish governor of

]\Iecca.

He
her

brought her to Aleppo, and gave her in turn

chief

to the

Ulema
a

there,

who
and

has
to

since

used

only as

brood mare,

carry

him

once a day to and from the Mosque in a saddle

of blue

and

gold.

With the exception

eight days ago,

of this

very
also
stiff.

moderate exercise, she had done no work

till

for three years

and
she

as
is

she a

is

in foal
I

it

is

not sur^^rising

if

little

am

very pleased with her, however.

stands

fourteen hands

two
I

inches,

She and has the

seen,

most extraordinarily beautiful head ever

the sweetest of tempers.

with

am
out.

delighted to have

got such an exchange for Tamarisk, whose rough

paces have been wearing

me

At midday our
arrived,

camels, servants, and

Mohammed
to
kiss

Hiinna

running on before
I

hLs
it

patron's hand,

and

need hardly say to water

cii.

XIX.]

Domestic
tears.

Intyigiics.

69
a.

with his
lightful

The

tents have been pitched in

wady below

the viUage, and

we have

spent a deeyes our

day showing

to understanding

property in camels, asses, and

feasting our eyes on the

are

now
S.

to

Tamarisk.

Mr.

for

camp furniture, and two lovely mares which relieve the hard-worked Hao-ar and o A new donkey has been bought for five pounds, and the zaptiehs have

been dismissed.

Mohammed

has brousjlit a lono;-

legged Anazeh with him who turned up this morning at Tudmur, and who is to take us to Jedaan to-morrow. Fortunately Arak is not much

out of our road to him.

Jazzer,
is

The man, whose name

is

as black as a negro, but his features are

purely Semitic, and according to

colour
"asil."
is

Mohammed
all

his

only due to the sun

as to blood he is

Ghanim has been

delighting us

with
has

his music, but he

and an Armenian Mr.

to

S.

brought with him, have been fighting already over

the

new

mares.

Each of course wants

have the

custody of them.

There are three Christians now

in our camp, for the Consul, besides the Armenian groom Simon, has brought a Christian servant with him, and these Avith Hanna have laid their heads together, as people of the same race or religion always do in the East when they find themselves in a majority, to bully Ghanim, They came this evening with a tale against Ghanim of tobacco stolen by him out of Wilfrid's bag, but we have taken his part, and reminded them that he is not our servant,

yo
but

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

Faris's,

[cu. xix.

and begged them to treat liim as in some measure our guest, and in any case to keep tlie peace. I daresay liis morals as Poor Ghanim
!

to property are not quite pure, but

lie is

a clieerful,
is

willing boy,

and a genius in

his

way.

His rebab

our chief pleasure in the evenings after dinner, and

theirs too for that matter.

A'pril

3.

Hanna

has been entertaining the

Consul's servant Jurji with a hospitality he

must

Looking into the have learned from the Bedouins. servants' tent last night I found Hilnna lying on
the bare ground without a rug to cover him, and
Jurji

snugly wrapped up in Hanna's mashlakh,

and and

occupying
sleeps.

the
I

cotton

quilt

on
he

which he
it

usually

asked

Hanna what
ill,

meant,

whether

Jurji

was

but

answered

simply,

"Do

not ask

me

to

disturb him.

He

is

my
the
the

guest." started at half-past six, a

We

merry party, for

Hamad, Jazzer the long-legged Anazeh leading way at a tremendous pace on foot. Our course
by
south, with a saddle-backed tell

lay south-east

on the horizon before us to mark the way. The morning was beautiful. A fresh j^reeze had sprung up in the night and cleared the weather, which had been sultry for the last few days, and we had the
pleasure of riding our

new

mares.

As we

crossed

the barren plain, some gazelles were seen, and then

some bustards.
time,

This morning,

too,

for the first

we heard

the sweet but melancholy whistle of

CH. XIX.]

The Desert Lark.

71

the desert lark, a bird with such a curious soug that

I
it

am

surprised no fanciful traveller has ever thought

it.

worth while to romance about

It is a little

brown bird with a speckled breast which sits generally on the top of a bush, and every now and then makes a short flight showing some light feathers in its wings, and then suddenly closes them and dives down to its perch. While it does this it sings a
touching melody.

When we

first

heard

it

four years ago in the

in,

Sahara we were quite taken one of the Arabs

himself.

supposing

it

to

Ije

w^ith us, whistling to amuse The quality of the tone is so like that of the human voice, that we had some trouble in tracing the song to its right owner. The birds generally sit in pairs, and it is only one of them which sings. The song at the head of this chapter was suggested by it, and by a certain air one of our camel men was singing the same day. Our party now consists of Hanna, Ferhan and Ghanim, our own men; of Mr. S.'s two servants; Jazzer the Mehed jMohammed, and a certain cousin of his, Mohammed of Homs, bound on business to It is of him that we bought the the Anazeh. donkey yesterday, and now he has laid out two pounds of its price in the purchase of another donkey, no larger than a Newfoundland dog on which he sometimes straddles, with his feet on the ground it is difficult to call it riding. AVe had
;

72

Bedoiun Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xix,

stayed beliind to eat our luiiclieon of bread and dates and let the camels go on, led by Jazzer, and now when we had finished our meal they were some mile or so It was just about noon, and the mirage in ahead. the middle of the day quickly swallows up even a

caravan of camels on the horizon, or they get hidden

in a dip of the plain,

and ours were now out of

it is

sight.

Wilfrid and I galloped on to keep up the line of

communication, which

very dangerous to lose in

it

was well we did so, for by the time we sighted them the rest of our Wilstraggling party was in its turn lost to view.
travelling in the desert,

and

frid

then sent
to

me on
stop
it

alone to the caravan with in-

structions

while he galloped back to

collect the stragglers.

He

found them, with the

c|uite

Consul at their head, following each other

our route,
to induce

unconsciously in a line at right angles to that of

and where they would have got to

Heaven only knows. It was all that he could do them to alter their course, which they still
declared

was that which the camels had taken.

This

little

together,

made us cautious of keeping and has shown us the advantage of having

incident has

at least one person well

had we
burden,

all

mounted with a caravan, as, been riding donkeys and beasts of heavy
scattered

we should infallibly have now been

this,

hopelessly over the plain.

After

we went

steadily

on

till

sunset,

when

we stopped
hills,

in a broad wady within sight of certain from which Jazzer assures us we shall see the

cii.

XIX.]

Real

Ghazii.

73

Anazeh

tents to-morrow.

We
V
- -

have come about

thirty miles.

GHANIM'S SONG.
V

-i

^
1

r^

um
i

r-

some reason unexplained? altered his course this morning, and started off southeast and, after passing the tell we had seen yesterday, a line of low hills came in sight, or as they turned out afterwards, of cliffs, the edge of an upper table land. Towards this we advanced obliquely, keeping a good look-out for tents, which we expected
April
4.

Jazzer, for

to find in ever}^ hollow,

for

a party of Sleb were

known

to be in the

neighbourhood.

About nine
off to

o'clock Wilfrid thought he

saw two men, peeping

our

over a bit of broken ground about a mile

right,

and galloped up
S.,

to

them

for news, leaving

me
to

with Mr.

who made me anxious by

saying

that

it was very imprudent to ride up in this way unknown people by oneself, but by this time AYilfrid was far away and unconscious of criticism. Besides, I knew he was well armed and mounted,

and would run no unnecessary risk. Mohammed too had started off to support him as soon as he saw what was going on. As it turned out, it was very lucky AVilfrid went
to them, for in about half-an-hour he returned at
full

speed to tell us we were going the wrong way, that the Anazeh had moved away from the

74

Bedouin Tribes of

the Eiiphrates.

[ch. xix.

camps where Jazzer had left them, and that we must strike due south. On riding' up he had
found himself suddenly
in

the

presence of

ten.

men hidden

in a small

wady, with three drome-

daries kneeling

down

so as to be out of sight,

and

armed with spears, while one of them had a matchlock and another a pistol. Four of the party had come forward, holding their spears in front of them in rather a menacing attitude but without dismounting, and keeping well out of reach, he had asked them who they were, and what they were doing. They turned out to be a party out on a ghazu, but whether from the Fedaan or the Eoala is still very doubtful. They said they were from the former, and that they were going to steal camels
;

from the

latter,

but the contrary

is

just as likely.

They seemed good-humoured

in the usual off-hand

fellows, and conversed Bedouin way, informing "Wilfrid that Jedaan was close by, just over the brow of the hills I spoke of, and saying we were in the wrong road. Then Mohammed had come up and

and they had all sat down very amicably, Wilfrid even giving them his rifle to This, which is a Winchester with fourteen look at.
cross-questioned them,
cartridges, is a never-failing source of delight to the

Bedouins.

them good luck on their expedition and a hajDpy return, Wilfrid and Mohammed had departed. The men's last words were that Jedaan and Mohammed Duki and Ibn Mershid, and Ibn Haddal were all together just beyond the hill, ^'jerih.
So, wishing

cii.

XIX.]

Anxious IMomcnts,
AVitli tliis

75
comfortable

jerih,^' (close by, close by).

news we accordingly put our camels' beads towards

tbe south.

The plain now began

crest of the hills,

to ascend, and,

by

follow-

ing the line of a long winding wady,

we

reached the

and found them,

as I said, to

be

only the broken edge of an upper plateau.

There,

far and wide before us, the level plain stretched out, unbroken except by one three-peaked hill, higher

we had yet seen, and recognised by Jazzer Ghorab or " Raven's Hill," about ten milesaway to the south. Of tents or camels nothing at all was to be seen. The situation required some speediness of decision, as the information given us by the ghazii party might be false, and we were advancing into a
than any
as Jebel

thirsty land with a \qxj limited supply of water.

Jazzer seemed in doubt whether to continue in the

direction or to revert to the old one
;

new

and the rest of the party were of course without knowledge of the Wilfrid, country, or ability to form an opinion, however, decided that the hill was our best chance. It would serve at least as a look-out from which we
might hope
steered.

to spy out something,

and towards

it

we As

He and Mohammed
near the
hill,

rode on in front, the

of limestone and

rest of the party

keeping them just in sight.

whicli
I
is

we came

capped with three peaks,

could see Wilfrid and

of
it.

Mohammed
seemed

like specks

upon the top

They

to be wavingf their cloaks but I could not

76

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

it

[en. xix.

see more,
last

was too

far a\yay.
faces,

They came down

at

with melancholy

put on for the occasion,

tell.

for they
all

had good news

to

They had gone

to

three peaks in succession,

and from the top of the

last,

the furthest south, they had

miles

made out
certainly

tents,

many

away,

indeed,

yet

tents

and certainly the Anazeh, for the black S2:)0ts seen covered an immense space from east to west, the nearest lying due south of us. So, in spite of the heat, which w^as very great, and of the blank look of the land we were entering, we went on in high spirits. In a couple of hours we came upon camels grazing, and learned from the men ^^dth them that they were the property of the Mehed, Jedaan's own tribe, and that we should soon come to their tents. We were the first people from the outside world, I
suppose, that they had seen this spring, yet they ex-

pressed no curiosity or interest in our proceedings,

and seemed

most ordinary thing in the world. Of interference with us or our affairs there was no sign, and when we asked the way to Jedaan's tent they answered as simply and as civilly as any labourers would in England in
to take our arrival as the

pointing out the road to the Squire's house.

We

passed thus through immense herds of camels for

another hour, and then came upon tents

and so went on and on, till, at the extreme end of the camp, we found the Sheykh's tent, set in the middle of a patch of purple stock, with several mares and colts grazing round it. The first person who came out to meet
;

cii.

XIX.]

The Prince of

the Desert.

77

us was our old ac([uaintance

iVli

the Mehdd,

whom

with at Deyr, aud whose failure to meet us at the tiysting place outside had been the
liad plotted

we

cause of

all

our
for

difficulties.
left

He

apologised very

handsomely

having

us in the lurch, and ex-

plained that the Pasha had got wind of our arrange-

ment, and had threatened to hang him,

if

he did not

go about his business at once.

and was expecting us; and presently a middle-aged man, rather shabbily-dressed and rather ill-mounted on an iron grey mare, rode up to us and bade us welcome. There was nothing in his manner, features, or appearance to proclaim him a man of note. His face was plain and undistinguished, his address
in the tent

He

told us Jedaan

was

neither very dignified nor very engaging, his smile

a singularly cold

one,

only

his

eyes

were

re-

markable by a certain

glitter

they had, and the pro-

jection of the eyebrows over them.

He

returned

our greeting gravely, and rode almost in silence with

us to the tent.

This was Jedaan, the great captain

by them with the title of The first words he uttered, after the usual compliments had been exchanged, were a question as to the breeding of my mare, Sherifa, whose
of the Anazeh, honoured

Emir

el

Arab.

extraordinarily beautiful head seems to attract

all

eyes to her.

This struck us as rather rude, and I

their old alliance

had expected, considering

b}-

and
are

brotherhood, a far greater demonstration of pleasure

him towards the

Consul.

On

the whole

we

78

Bedouin Tribes of

the Etiphratcs.

[ch. xix.

not favourably impressed by

desert has turned his head.

tliis

great man,

and

suspect that the position he has achieved in the

own

Jedaan is a parvenu, and owes all his position to his He merit as a man of action and a politician.
life

man of no very distinguished Mehed tribe, itself not one of the most powerful tribes among the Anazeh. Abd-ul-Kerim,
began
as a poor

family in the

his friend as a

him on
his

at

boy and afterwards his enemy, helped the outset, and then his great courage and

brilliant

horsemanship brought him into the notice of

own

people,

who being
Still

great warriors, elected

him

their Sheykh.

for

many

years he was only

Sheykh of the Fedaan, and

ibn-Mershid's death
ii

it w\as

not

till

Suliman-

left

the Sebaa like sheep without

shepherd, that he

leader of the united tribes. as their

was recognised as military The Sebaa elected him Akid, and he has since had it all his own
this section of the
is

way with
are coarse,
finish,

Anazeh.

In appear-

ance, I have said, he

not prepossessing, his features

and his manner wants that w^ell bred which distinguishes the members of families
There
is still

really " asil."

a trace of the old sub-

missive manner of the poor man, under the dignity

of the Sheykh,

His smile seems forced, and his

if

manner

hesitating and abrupt, as

heVas not quite

he

sure of his position.

If it w^as not for his eyes

would be unrecognisable as a great man, but these

are like a hawk's, piercing, fierce,

We

have sent him his

and cold. mashlakh and boots, and

cH. XIX.]

Fij^st

Impressions of yeddan.
tlkat

79

wlien lie brouo-lit them to the him hide them, lest the others should see what we had given, and he be obliged to How different to Faris, part with some of them. who gave all away with a perfectly open hand When he came to see us afterwards in our own tent, he said little and went away suddenly. Either he is pre-occupied, or he has had his head turned by his
tells

Hdnna

us

tent Jeditan bade

fortune,

one has known people

for

in

Europe quite unto

bearable

some months

after succeeding?

title, or simply after marriage. Dinner was given us in our own tent, lamb and kemeyes, lebben and dates. The water is very muddy but quite sweet. It comes from some pools of rain-water in the neighbourhood, and rain-water is always good.

fortune, or a

In

the evening,

we

received

visits

from Turki

Jedaan's only son, a loutish fellow unworthy of his

and from a certain Faris-ibnMeziad, Sheykh of the Mesenneh, whose blood, Mofather's reputation,

hammed

tells us, is

the bluest in

all

Arabia.

Then,

before going to bed, we handed Mohammed the twenty mejidies we had promised should be his the " He is not worth it," we day we saw Jedaan.
said, " after all
;

but never mind."

are on their

April

5.

The Anazeh

way

north,

and never stay more than a couple of nights in the same place, so this morning the tents were struck, Jedaan waiting out of compliment to us to do so till ours were down. By a couple of hours after sunrise everybody was on the march,
or rather north-west,

8o and a

Bedouin Tribes of
fine sight it was.

the Ettphrates.

[en. xix.

The Mehed camp covers

and the tents are scattered
it is

several miles of ground,

about, in groups of ten or a dozen, at intervals of at

least a quarter of a mile, so that

impossible to
;

make

even a guess at the whole

extended as far

line of camels

number but the as we could see on

and the tribe is said to reckon a thousand tents. Jedaan of course rode with us, and, as it was the first day of our visit, a fantasia was performed in our honour, much in the same fashion as that to which Faris had treated us, but done with There seems to be none of that personal less spirit. affection for Jedaan among his followers that we found among the Shammar for their Sheykh, and Jedaan himself is moody and pre-occupied. He went through his own part of the performance more as a duty than a pleasure, and it was soon over. I am glad, however, to have seen him ride in it, as he is the most celebrated horseman of the desert, and, mounted as he was to-day on his big horse, he certainly gives one a fine idea of Bedouin j)rowess. His seat on horseback is admirable, a more natural one to Euro^Dcan eyes than that of most Arabs, who generally sit crouched on the very shoulders of their mares. Jedaan on the contrary sits well back, and his legs hang easily from the knee, while his hand seems to be very perfect. He was riding a horse
either side of us,

celebrated in the tribe, a powerful four year old of

at least fifteen hands, of

which we had already heard,

and showed

it off"

admirably, but I was disappointed

cn. XIX.]

Jeddans Horse.
animal.

8i

ill

tlic

He

is

a bay Keliilaii Aklinis with

esli,

three white feet {inuttlahh

sinmdl) and a great

splotch of white

down

the

nose.

He

has a fine

sloping

shoulder and

powerful quarters, but the

neck

is

charger, in fact,

heavy and the hocks set too high. more than a racer.
it
is

Jedaan's son Turki joined clumsily in the man-

no horseman, and, from some hints thrown out by the people about him, I fancy he is half-witted. A boor he certainly
oeuvres, but

evident he

is

is.

Jedaan's secretary,

Mehemet

Aazil, a native of

(Jrfa, also

rode with us, and a

little pale-faced,

grey-

eyed

acquaintance.

man whom the He is

Consul recognised as an old

the

Ulema Abd-er-Rahman
and a

Attar, a doctor of divinity from Aleppo,

man

of considerable influence

among

the Anazeh, not on

account of his clerical profession, but from the fact

that his father was a horse-dealer and had had com-

mercial relations with them.

He

seems to be here

on some
this

sort of diplomatic mission, connected witli

The Consul tells us that Abd-er-Eahman is really a learned man both in divinity and law, and an honourable man to boot so that, although he talks Turkish, which somehow grates upon my ears, and has a wretched town comthe quarrels of the tribes.
plexion, w^e are

making

friends with him.

He seems

a mine
politics.

of information

about desert history and

his

The
horse,

fantasia over,

Jedaan got down from

filly

and mounted the same scrubby

he met

82

Bedotiiu Tribes of the Eiiph7'ates.

lie

[cu. xis:.

us on yesterday, and saying that rode away to the

transact elsewhere, put us under his

left.

had business to son's escort and

There

is

evidently something-

brewing, but whether peace or war

we cannot
gone.

quite
at

make

out.

I tliouofht the retainers

seemed more

their ease

when
;

the Sheykh was

little

attempt at sport was made, a bustard hawked and a

fox coursed

but the Bedouins here seem to care

little

about such things, being in this strangely different

from

their relations in the Sahara.

a very large one, larger than the peregrine,

The hawk was and well

It is

under command, for having missed his quarry he

came back
pretty

at once to his master's call.

very

two together on the croup of their master's mare, or on his wife's howda, and keeping their balance with wings The greyhounds while on the march stretched out. seemed perpetually at work coursing something or
to see these hawks, perched
other,
fox, hare,

or gazelle, for

the

long line of

camels acting as beaters puts up everything before

it

for miles.

breeding, most of
variety,

The dogs are small, but show great them l^eing of the so-called Persian with long silky ears and tails. The march

was
rode
in

irregularly conducted.
first,

group of horsemen
line,

but followed no particular

going

first

one direction and then in another, either from the inability we have noticed in the Bedouins to keep a

and camping-ground. Every mile or so they dismounted to talk and wait for the camels, which came slowly
straight line, or possibly looking for pasturage

c". XIX.]

Secret Griefs.

83

but surely on behind, feeding as they went. Every time we thought they intended to encamp, but they
still

went

on,

and

it

was not

till

;il)out

one o'clock

that Turki finally stuck his spear in the ground and

told us the tents were to be pitched there.

The

place chosen

is

a likely spot enough, a deep wady,

Wady-el-Helbe, some forty feet below the level of

the plain, and one vast bed of grass and flowers.
"VYe

have been turning round Jebel Gliorab

is
still

all

day,

*ind it

in sight five or six miles off to the

It is

north-north-east.

very hot, and

we

are sitting

in the sun ^^'aiting for the camels to

the tents; but

my

mare

is

come up with kind enough to let me

make

use of her shadow, to a certain extent, while

I WTite.

She

is

too gentle to

move away.
is

Evening.
plained.

Jedaan's
!

pre-occupied manner

ex-

fifteenth time
+S.,

He was married two days ago and He has confided his woes
them being the
is
it is

for the

to

]\Ir.

the most prominent of

foolish-

ness of his son,

who

really

seems half-witted.
of no use

Turki

is

now

twenty-four years old, and

This
all

either in peace or Avar, being an idle, stupid lout,

who cannot even

ride.

is

Jedaan's

secret
it is

misery and the cause of

in the hope of a more

his marriages, for

worthy heir that he has

married over and over again, and

fifty-five

now

at the age of

has just taken to himself a fifteenth wife.

to the Consul this evening with an apology

He came

''Amdii,

Amdn," he

said, (" Peace, peace, forgive

me,") and told his troubles.

He

is

also worried
G 2

and

84

Bedoinn Tribes of the Euphrates,

ayIiicIi,

[en. xix.

auxious about the Roala war,

Sebaa, he
is

as

Akid
it

of the

obliged to

cany

on, against his private

wishes and his better judgment, and which

is

seems

not going on so satisfactorily as might be wished.

He

married his daughter Turkya

last

year to Ibn

Shaalan, the Roala Slieykh, and although she has

quarreled with her husband he seems to consider

Sotamm

as a relation.

He

has no blood feud or

private quarrel with any of the Roala.

The cause

of his leaving us to-day was the marriage feast,

which

it

is

customary for the bride's father to give

is

to the bridegroom on the third

A young

camel

day after the wedding. then killed, and all the relations

are invited.

Jedaan's

new

father-in-law belon<xs
is

to-

the Sirhan, a small Anazeh tribe, and

staying

with Ibn Keshish's

ffimily,

Sheykli of the Khryssa.

The

bride

is

said to be pretty,

though thirty
girl.
is

years.

of age^and quite an old maid for an Arab

reason
gular.
girl

The
sin-

of her

being

so

long

unmarried
l)y

It appears that

according to desert law a

may

be claimed

in

marriage

her

first

cousin,

and even kept waiting year after year chooses to marry her ov set her free and
;

until

he
has

so

it

haj)pened in this case.

But, Jedaan )eing a powerfid

1

2)ersonage, the girl's father has

set aside the cousin's rioiit.

been persuaded to
is

Jedaan's mother

also

Sirhau, and it was she Avho really made the match she is very anxious her son should have a worthy heir, and she left him no peace until she got
;

]iis

consent to her plan.

Still,

there seems to be

CH. XIX.]

Pool of Rain

IVatcr.

85
is

some doubt
one.

as to wlietlier tlic marnao-c

Icn-al

As soon
went
oft'

as our camels liad arrived at the

new

lialting-place,

and the tents

liad been pitched, wi-

in search of water for our mares, leaving

The mares had had none yesterday, and were suffering from want of it in the hot sun. Jedaan's people ^\erc'
equally without Avater, but they were either too lazy
to fetch
it

the lout Turki sprawling in our tent.

or indifterent about their beasts' comfort

and, though they talked vaguely of water being close

l)y,

they made no move towards

it.

So we Avent

tiway by ourselves with

Mohammed
beyond

in the direction

pointed out to us, and about three miles off found a

large pool of rain-Avater,
A\d]ich

another Be-

douin camp Avas established. The mares, poor things,

Avere

very glad to get their noses into the

muddy

and Ave thought Avould never stop drinking. My Nej dean mare, however, is a very curious drinker. She only puts the tips of her lijDS to the Avater and takes several minutes sijiping the amount of a.
AA^ater,

bucket
in

full,

while Hagar thrusts her

Avliole

muzzle

and drinks voraciously. The tents proved to belong to the Motiyaja, one of the Sebaa tribes, and, when the mares were satisfied, Ave Avent on to pay a visit to their Sheykli. They were only just arrived, and the Sheykh's tent was not yet pitched, but he received us in that of his uncle Ali. Ferhan-ibn-Hedel^ is a young man of tAVO or three and tAventy, and has the most

S6

Bcdoiiin Tribes of the Euphrates,

tlie

[ru. xix.

distinguished manners of any of

Bedouins we
is

have met, Faris only excepted.

stature,

He

short in

but very slight and graceful, with exceedof dark

olive

ingly small hands and feet, and a refined, almost

melancholy, countenance

hue.

He

was very poorly dressed, but there was something in his air which pointed him out to us at once as a man of rank and birth. His manner to ourselves was a type of good breeding quiet, frank, and unobtnisive, and full of kind attentions. He apolo-

gised simply, but with dignity, for the poor reception

His tribe was the one which had suffered most from the Eoala war, for, at
he was able to give
us.

the very outset, and before hostilities had actually

been declared, they had been plundered by the Turkish soldiers whom Ibn Shaalan had got to help
him.

These had

left

the Moayaja without so

much

and the wretched awnings under which they are now camj^ed have been given them in charity by the other Sebaa tribes. All their cooking pots and pans, things hereditary in a Sheykh's tent, were gone, and it was all they could do to muster a copper jug to make us coffee in. They had no bread, only dates and trufiles but, as Ferhan said, " the kemeyes are our bread just now, and better than the bread of towns." Of the war he naturally spoke with some bitterness, and of the treacherous attack made upon his people by Ibn ShaaMn and the Turkish troops. Their camp had been surrounded while stopping in
as a tent over their heads,

II.

XIX.]

Desert Grandees.

87

tlie

and tlicy had only just most of their marcs and The war must now go on till they had got camels. back what had thus been lost. " And Jedaau," we " War asked, " what does he wish in the matter
neigliboiirliood of Hanin,

managed

to escape with

of course," answered Ferhan.

"

"

Ah,

have not seen his heart."

that Jedaan war.
is

But in his heart ? The fact is, they

]\Ioayaja

all

know

only half-hearted in carrylike

ing on the
ticularly.
peo^^le,

We

these

par-

They are very different from Jedaan's who are rough and uncivil. These are ex-

Ferhan himself reminds us of the very best type of Spaniard, a grande cuhierto. His blood, indeed, is considered the best among the Sebaa, and Mohammed tells us that, with Ibn Mershid's, it ranks next to that of the
ceedingly w^ell-mannered.
five

great

families

of

absolute nobility, the

Il,^n

]\Ieziad of

the

Hesenneh, the Ibn-el-Hemasdi of

the Ibn Haddal, the Ibn Jendal and the Tayiir of the Eoala, and the Ibn

Smeyr
correct,

of the Welled Ali.

He

told us this as
if it

we were
was

riding to-day, and I

asked Ferhan

and in what this He told us it was so, absolute nobility consisted. and that the five families thus distinguished had at " The rest all times killed a lamb for their guests.
* of us have only learned to do so."
All's tent w\as partly occupied

bay

foal,

the latter not a

is

by a filly and a week old and very cn-

* Ibn Shaalan's

generations, while Jedaan

only a " noblesse d'opce" of some half-dozen is a parvenu.

S8

Bedo7iin

Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en. \ix.

gaging. It was tied up, as the custom is, by a rope round the neck, while its mother was away grazing, and neighed continually. It was very tame, however, and let me stroke it, and sniffed at my pockets, as if it knew that there mi2;ht be some suo-ar there.
Ali showed us his mare, (not the foal's mother,) a dark
chestnut,

animal, which would pass as a

Abeyeh Sherrak, a strong but rather plain "handsome cob " in

Ferhdn's horse pleased us better, a threeIMshetib,

England.
year-old,

Hadban

which

I preferred infi-

nitely to Jedaan's Kehilan Akliras.

The Ibn Hedeb were very anxious

to retain us

with them, but we could not risk offending Jedaan,

by leaving him without saying goodbye so we have promised to come again, and rode home to the Wady-el-Helbe in a storm of Jiail and rain. A'pril G. Lightning in the night and a threatenrain. Jedaan came to our tent the first \\\<i of thing this morning, and talked more openly than
;

he has yet done

a
selfish

liut I

do not

like iiim.

He

seems

schemes and ambitions, and

little

man, entirely occupied with his own lets one see many a
Ijctter

meanness, which

breeding would have

like

concealed.
either
;

The

Seljaa, I

fancy, do not

him

but they iwed him, for since Suliman-ibn-

Mershid's death they are without a leader, while

is

Jedaan has military genius. His heart, all the same, not in the war, and it is a curious trait of
last winter,

manners that

while the war was at

its

height, Jedaan, the leader of the Sebaa, should have

rn. XIX.]

A
liis

Domestic Qjiarrcl.
tlie

89
leader of

married
tlie

daughter to Ibn Sliaaldn,

Eoala.
I

Whether he did

this

with a poHtieal
I

motive

cannot

make

out, nor

do

quite underIt

stand his present feelings about the marriage.

turned out badly, and Jedaan's daughter came back

two or three months ago from her husband, saying that she could not o-et on with him and vet Jechian talks of Ibn Shaalan as having claims on him as Of tJie origin of the w\ar he irave his son-in-law. It appears that from time imus some account.
:

memorial the Sebaa have occupied the plains of Horns and Hama as their summer pasturage, paying

sort of rent to the

Turkish Government for this

and the

right of trading,

amounting

to six

hundred

camels yearly.

Last May, however, the Koala,

who

have increased and multiplied greatly of

late years,

came forward with an oficr of fifteen hundred camels, and backed it with a present of fifty mares, to be distributed among the Government officials of Damascus, Homs, and Hama and thus secure of support, marched in before the Sebaa's arrival, and took possession. The Sebda, however, came, and a battle ensued, in which the Eoala were worsted, whereupon Sotamm - ibn - Sliaalan applied to the Turks for help and, by subsidising the pasha, obtained from him a body of Turkish infantry to support his people. These came suddenly upon iXxa, Gomussa and Moayaja, whom they found isolated, and surrounded them. The Sebda do not seem to
;

have behaved very heroically,

for

they made no

90

Bedouin Tribes of the EtLphrates.

;

[en. xix,

resistance to tlie soldiers

and allowed themselves to The troops sacked all the Moayaja camp, captured fifty mares, and drove off a hundred and eighty camels, besides three thousand sheep. Since then a war of reprisals has been carried on, but Jedaan assures us that not more than fifty men
be pillaged.

have been

killed

on either

side.

Jedilan's face improves

when he

is

excited, for

then his eyes, which are really

prisingly.
I

fine, light

up

sur-

proposed to take his portrait, and he

was much
called
for us

flattered at the idea,

and

sat

with extra-

ordinary patience for nearly an hour, and then

for his

secretary, who wrote Jedaan's name underneath the drawing, adding " Emir el

Arab,^' his
as

new

title in

the desert, with which he

is

pleased as people are with theirs in England.

portrait hardly did

The
fire.

him

justice, for it

gave the

ruggedness of his features, without their occasional

I

was more

successful in a sketch I

made

of

his

daughter

Turkya,

pretty

and

interesting

woman, whom
ance with.

I presently

afterwards

made

acquaint-

As soon
Jedaan's
children.

as

Jedaan went away,

paid a visit to

the harem, and found there in the place of honour

Hazznn, the mother of his three The new wife has a tent of her own. Hazzna was very gracious, doing the honours of her household, and of course making me sit in her place. She has greater remains of good looks than is usual in a Bedouin mother of grown-up
first wife,

rn. XIX.]

Anazch

Ladies.

91

cliiklren, so

that when, pointing to Tiirki,

who

sat

in the tent fondling a baby, she informetl

me

thot

he was her son,

amial)le,

could truly say

was

suipiiscd.

Her countenance is agreeable, her manner, though was rather embarrassed, perhaps because she wore a gorgeous Bagdad ahha of purple and gold
interwoven, a piece of finery to which she seemed

unaccustomed, and the only instance

have seen
at

among Bedouin
clothes.

ladies

of

any attempt

smart

I asked her about the wife of Ibn Shaalan, on which she turned to a young girl sitting on her left with a child in her arms and said, " This is

Turkya."
Jedaan.

looked and saw a graceful creature

with a most attractive

f^ice, though curiously like Turkya has the same strangely brilliant

eyes, but without her father's

hawklike expression
I

and her
are
far

face,

though the features resemble his and

is

from regular,

really pretty.

made
sit

friends
for

with her at once, and asked her to

her portrait.

While she

sat,

one of Turki's

wives (he has three, and several small children)

squatted by her giggling, and trying to
laugh,

but she behaved very well.

make her IMohammed

his

Aazil, the secretary,

was rather tiresome, with

incessant flow of conversation, and indeed so were

the assembled company,

in

who

took a great interest

my

drawing, continually interrupting

me

with

their observations. Their remarks, however, were all of encouragement and approval, and it always
strikes

me

as

showing a natural superiority of

in-

92

Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiphratcs.

Arabs over Europeans, that
tlie

[<'h.

xix.

telligence in

former

at once understand tlie merest indication of a sketch

or map,

which woukl be meaningless to the un\\\(t

educated among
I

latter.

found that Turkya's

child, a

daughter nearly
;

four years old, was

by

a former marriage
father's,

her

first

husband, a brother of her

three years ago.
It

died

seems that she was so

mad much

about
at-

tached to him that she even

now laments

his death,

and that she always disliked her second marriage, and seized the first pretext for escaping from it. She now says she cannot go back to Sotamm-ibnShaalan, and wants to remain with her own family. Jedaan has another daughter, still prettier than
Turkya, a lovely
little

girl of eleven,

named

Ariffa.

saw her yesterday, when Faris - ibn - Meziad, Sheykh of the Hesenneh, who is here on a visit,
brought her to our tent to
'\fLirvaj''

We

("gaze") at

us.

The half-witted Turki was drawino- but when

o-oino;

sat silent all the while I

I

had finished and was

to

away, he broudit out three or four revolvers

of English and American

make

show me.
for

He

seemed to have a particular fancy

these firearms, pointing

handling

them recklessly all round, to the terror of men, women, and children in the tent, until the secretary took them away from him. He then made me a little set speech, from which it appeared that he was not such a fool after all, for he had evidently shown me these revolvers only in order to lead up to the request that I would give

cii.

XIX.]

Jcddaiis Sou and Heir.

own.
slie sat

liiiii

my
but
I

said,

He wanted it for his mother, lie by without joining in his entreaties,

I

and
tent.

only repHed that

coukl not spare

it,

and

taking leave of Hazzna and Turkya returned to our

When

got back I found that AVilfrid had has been complaining of the rude-

decided on going on to Ferhdn's camp this afternoon.

Hanna

ness of the people here,

whom
tent,

he can no longer

keep out of the servants'

life

and wdio make

his

a l^urden to him.

Yesterday, he declares, Turki,

all

with half a dozen of his friends, lay sprawling

day long on our carpets and cushions, and when spoken to by Hanna, called him a "pig" and an
"infidel." This, very likely,
is

an exaggeration, but
Jediian's

Wilfrid thinks
the Sebaa,

we

shall

be more comfortable with

who

are well-bred people.

men

have a bad reputation in the desert for everything

except fighting.
to the pool

We

where we

have consequently come back were yesterday, and Avhere we

be

find our friend Ferlian deliohted to see us a^-ain.

It is certainly a great pleasure to

among such
are.

polite pleasant people as these

Moayaja

Jedaan was very tiresome

not spare him, and he showed,

at parting,

with an

unreasonable request for a revolver, which

we could

we

thought, a great

want of dignity
w^ere

in the matter.
to
l;)id

On

the

Avliole,

we

were anything but sorry

him goodbye.

We

hardly, hoAvever, out of sight of the Fedaan

before Aljd-er-Rahmau, the learned
us,

camp

Alej)po, overtook

man from and requested permission to

94

Bedouin Tribes of the E^iphrates.

[en. xix.

travel with us.

Turkisli,
tliat lie

He

tlien

explained to Mr. S. in

had a matter of great importto us, and proceeded to disclose a nesfotiation, with which he had been enI cannot understand why trusted by Jedaan. Jedaan should have chosen this roundabout way of letting us know what he wanted, especially when lie must have known we should be delighted to grant his request. It appears, then, that Jeddan was struck by some remarks I made this morning
ance to communicate

on the
divide

folly of letting a petty quarrel for

pasturage

the

strength

of

the

Anazeli,

when

the

Bedouins had in face of them so powerful an enemy

as the Turks, and that it had occurred to him I might be willing to undertake a diplomatic mission to the Roala camp, which lies on our way to Damascus, and endeavour to bring about peace between the tribes. A council is to be called of all the Sheykhs of the Sebaa and of their allies, and the terms of peace discussed, with which I am to go to the Eoala. Jeddan thinks that most of them really desire to see the war finished, and that if some arrano-ement can be come at with Ibii Shaalan

about the pasturage of Hama, l^ygone quarrels

may

be

fors-otten.

Of course

am

deliij^hted to

think

that 1 can possibly be of use in such a negotiation,

which really it would be worth while to succeed in. Abd-er-Rahman will go with us as second plenipotentiary to explain things better than I can, and

we

all

intend to do our best to

make

the mission

successful.

en. XIX.]

T/ic Goiimssa

and

their Horses.

95
liis

As

first

step

wc have sounded
and
lie

Ferlian about

feelings in tlie matter,

lias

explained that,
to speak openly
feels sure
is

although

it

is

impossible for

him

with his people of making peace, yet he

quite willing to forget his losses in

that they are tired of the war, and he himself

it.

AVe

like

Ferhan immensely. He is so straightforward and .sensible, and shows high-minded ideas on every We have given him a subject we have discussed.
cloak

and

boots, both of
in

which

articles,

poor fellow,

he

is

much

want

of,

and, unlike the rest

who

have received these ]^)resents from us, he has put

them on himself, understanding that this pleases us. The tribe is quite ruined, and the Sheykh's mother has had to borrow a cooking-pot of Hanna to boil
the lamb in for our dinner.

Ferhan

is

not married,

but lives with

3^ears old,

his

mother

father's, a pretty quiet

jind another widow of his woman, who has a child two

Ferhan' s half-brother.

His father ]Majun

died two years ago.

Several Arabs of the

Gomussa have been here

Amono-st

talking principally about horses, for they are the

great breeders of horses in the desert.
others

they spoke of a w^onderful mare, a ]\leleyha,

which they said a certain European had once offered GOO/, for, when they were in their summer quarters
near Aleppo
;

but the manner of his dealing seems

them with the idea that he was .out of his mind, and they would not sell the mare. They mixde very merry over this. AYe asked them
to have impressed

96
tlic

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

usual question about
tlie

[en. xix.

horses of Nejd, and

the existence of separate breeds there, and they

o-ave the

usual answers.

AVe also asked whether

they had ever heard of a mixture of blood having

Ijeen effected
peoj^le

with English or other horses, as some

they could not understand our
did they were rather indig-

pretend has been the case with the Anazeh

stock.

At

first

question, but

when they

and absurd. same as those of our forefathers, ])efore they came from Nejd, and the same as those None of the tribes which have remained there." of them have ever seen or heard of an English horse, which would of course be a hadwh (mongrel). All horses but their own were Jcadiskes, not worth Abd-er-Eahman, too, whose father talking about.
nant.

" All that is a lie," they said, "

Our

horses are the

was a horse-dealer, laughed at the notion of a Bedouin ever allowing his mares to look at an European horse, and said he had never heard of The any tradition of the kind we mentioned.
thing would be
think.

an impossibility.

So

should

The only European horses ever brought ta the desert w^ere some of Mr. S.'s, about twenty years ago, and they proved an entire failure. Though of the best blood in England, the Arabs would have nothing to say to them. While we were eating our dinner, a very good one of fried mutton, cakes, and fresh butter, a beautiful little gazelle was brought for us to look at. It was a fawn of only a few days old, and had

c'H. XIX.]

New-born

Gazelle.

97

been caught yesterday while the tribe was on the march. It is the prettiest little thing imaginable, no bigger than a hare, all legs and ears, and great
black wistful eyes.
the legs so that
it

Some chikben had

could not run
their
fast,

it,

tied by and were

I

wearing
it

its life

away by
and
it

rough

i^lay.
slee^).

took

on to

my
it

lap,

went
it

at once to

Poor
;

thing, they have given

I

to a goat to bring
I

up

but
it

am

sure

can never

live.

wish

could take

with me.

CHAPTER
Ferlian ibn

XX.
Shakespeabe.

" Alarums, excursions, then a retreat."

Hedeb The Gomussa and their mares Mohammed A lawsuit in the desert A tribe of Gazelle hunters Beteyen's mare The Sebaa are attacked by the Rodla panic and a retreat Our new brother, Meshur ibn Mershid

Duki

Scarcity of water
forced

We

leave the

Anazeh camp and make a

march

to Bir Sukr.

Sunday, Apiil 7. The name of the pool by which we are encamped, or rather of the pools, for there is a succession of them, is Khabra el Mashkiik.
It lies within sight of the Tell el Ghorab, ten mi]e&

and about sixty south-east some few acres, but is very shallow, being dependent for its existence as a pool solely on the winter rains. According to all accounts, however, there is a series of them running east and west, and forming a convenient line of encampments in the direction of Damascus. It will be along these that we hope to go on now to the Eoala, who are not more than a hundred
perhaps due south of
of
it,

Tudmur.

It covers

miles

away,

if

report speaks

true.

They

tell

us

we
are.

shall

road,

find encampments of the Sleb on our and learn from them exactly where the Roala

en. XX.]

A Afail

of Breeding.

99

Ferhan spent the morning with us talking, and answering the many questions we bored him with,

most agreeably.

It

was

pleasant, too, to see the

his

way

in which he exerted

authority over his

us.

people in keeping them from boring

of gazing

Not that

they did anything which was impolite, but the right

is

one which
;

is liable

at all times to abuse

in a Bedouin

camp and, when

the youths and boys

round our tent, he would send them about their business with a good-humoured edged
in too closely

word

or

regard.

two which they did not venture to disHis manner to them was exactly that of
l^rother

an elder
hold.

keeping order in an unruly house-

We

should have liked to stay longer with

this
is

Ferhan than

one night, but,

now

that our di[)lo-

matic mission
to visit one or

seriously decided on, we shall have two more of the principal sheykhs,

and
by.

so about ten o'clock

we

struck our tents, in-

tending to go on to the Gomussa,

Ferhan, as
really sorry to part with us,

who were

close

we wished him goodbye, seemed and made us promise, not unwillingly, that, if ever we come again into his neighbourhood, w^e will make his tent our home. I hardly know whether it is their misfortunes and present poverty which make them so, but these
Moayaja and
people
their

sheykh are certainly the nicest

this side of the Euphrates.
is

we have met
all.

touch of misfortune
for us

doubtless an excellent thing

loo

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en. xx.

As we moved away, we came across a mass of men, women, and camels moving more or less in our

own

and found, on inquiry, that they were the Welled Ali, an Anazeh tribe, usually friends of the Eodla, but who have sided with the Sebda in their present quarrel. Their sheykh, Mohammed Dukhi ibn Smeyr, is a man of considerable importance and enjoyed, I believe, the protection of the British Consulate at Damascus some years ago, in an intrigue he set on foot to get the monopoly of conducting the IMecca pilgrims as far as Maan so we had hardly appeared among his people before we received a polite message from him hoping that we would go no further than to his tents, which he was about to pitch not three miles from our late encampment. Presently afterwards, the sheykh himself rode up and repeated the invitation, and, although we had already sent word to Ibn Mershid of the Gomussa to announce a visit,
direction,
;

we

could not well refuse this

sides,

we were anxious

to

new invitation. Bemake Mohammed Dukhi's

acq[uaintance.
his.

So our tents have been pitched with

Mohammed Dukhi ibn Smeyr is a man of about fifty. He is short and thick set, wears a grizzled
and has little dark twinkling eyes, expressive of some humour. His face, though not a disagreebeard,

able one, hardly inspires one Avith full confidence,

and he is said to have committed acts of cruelty and treachery in his day. To us, however, he is

CH. XX.]

JMohannncd Duk/ii.
but
in

lOi

charming,

the

ehil)oratc

Turkish fashion

rather than as a Bedouin,

full

making us long speeches

difficulty

of compliments, and j^i'otesting his desire to

serve us.

We

were in some
left
\vitli

about a cloak

for him, for,

when we

Deyr, we did not expect

to

make acquaintance

any of the great sheykhs

left

but Jedaan, and the only one we had

we were
the Ibn

reserving for Beteyen ibn Mershid, sheykh of the

Gomussa.
if

Mr.

S.,

however,

who knows

Mershids well, offered to explain matters with them

we would send

the cloak

we had with us

to j\lo-

hammed

Dukhi, for he was a stranger to us all. It was a handsome cloak of Karyeteyn make, dark blue and white, but without gold embroidery, and we sent it as usual by Hanna but, to our surprise, Mohammed Dukhi sent it back again, coming him;

self

immediately after to our tent to explain that

for travellers so far
;

it

was quite unnecessary

the

down
that

in

Hamad

to

send presents to anyone

we

might want it for others or for ourselves, and a good deal more which came so very d j^^ojws, that we guessed it must have been suggested to him by Hdnna. How this was I do not know, but we have had considerable trouble in persuading our He has been sitting with us host to keep the gift. most of the afternoon, relating tales of the different Europeans he has seen, for the Welled All have
their

summer

quarters near Damascus, and are in

It is to

constant communication with the town.

this, I

suppose, that he owes his fine manners.

As

UNIVEP.v^TTY OF CALIFORNIA
Q.'.

VTA TIARRARA

I02

Bedouin Tribes of the Enphrates.

[ch.

xx.

a young

man he
now
is

enjoyed a considerable reputation

as a warrior, but he lost one of his

arms in the

wars, and
military

satisfied

with giving advice on

matters.
of peace

We

sounded

him about the

prospects

with the Eoala, and he ex-

j^ressed himself, for his

affair.
If,

own
is

part, indifferent in the

however, there

any more

fighting, his

jDeople shall help the Seliiia.

He

has promised to

them through it, and considers they have been badly used by the Koala but he has no personal quarrel with Ibn Shaalan, and should be glad if matters could be arrauQ-ed. He would like to see the mutesherif of Hama punished, for it was he who was to blame for all the troubles which he had got up in order to fill his own pockets. The conduct of the Turks towards the tribes was
see
;

" abominable." All day long people have been bringing horses

and mares
that
better,

for us to look at, for

we have given out

for somethins^
it

we wish

to exchano;e

Tamarisk

and a very interesting sight

has been.

The Welled Ali themselves are not remarkable for their horses, but we saw one very pretty grey horse, Seglawi Jedran of Ibn Nederi's breed, which had no
defect but that of
size.

It

was only fourteen hands.

later
c]

Gomussa, however, came in

with a magnifi-

cent three-year-old, a

Samhan
is

Gomeaa, a bay

with black points.

This

the most powerful animal

we have

yet seen.

He

stands fifteen hands, and

still

has tremendous forearms and quarters, though

cH. xs.]

Betcyeji!s

Mare.
less

10'

coltisli.

His action was

judge from

good, tliougli

it

is

difficult to

tlie

extremely bad riding

Horses,
in the to the mares,

of the

man who

brought him.

desert, are always ill-broken

compared
follow,

for they are seldom used for riding purposes.

But

our chief delight

Avas

to

when

IJeteyen

ibn Mershid, sheykh of the Gomussa, rode up to

Mohammed Dukhi's tent to pay a visit. He had just purchased from one of his people the " bridlehalf" of a three-year-old mare, an Abeyeh Sherrak,

xmd was
were at
describe
fifteen

home when he heard that we Mohammed Dukhi's tent. The mare is so

riding her

much more remarkable than

her
first.

the man, that I must

She

is

a dark bay, standinghead, the

first

hands or
to,
is it

over.
is

Her

point an

Arab looks
finer,

a good one, though I have seen

but

perfectly set on,

and the mitbakh,

and well arched,
it
is

or join of the head and neck, would give distinction

to any profile.

Her neck

is

light

the wither high, the shoulder well sloped, and the

quarters so fine and powerful that
impossible

she should be otherwise than a very fast mare.

length of limb above the hock
that of the pastern.
is

Her
is

remarkable, as

She

carries her tail high, as all

is

well-bred Arabians do, and there

finish
ii

a neatness and

about every movement, which remind one of

gazelle.

fawn or a

We

are all agreed that she

is

incomparably superior to anything we have seen

here or elsewhere, and would be worth a king's

ransom,

if

kings

were

still

worth

ransoming.

I04

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xx,

Beteyen has paid fourteen camels

the mare, which, at the rate of

for his share in

5 a

camel, gives
;

70, besides 20 in money, making a total of 90

but this sum represents in reality two-thirds of the

whole value, because the " holder of the

the partner
is

bridle," as

called
if

who keeps and

rides the mare,

has the right,

he wishes, of buying up the re-

maining

interest in her for half the

sum he has

already paid.

having cost
bargain.

The mare, then, may be reckoned as Beteyen no more than 135, and the
to

sheykli has every reason

be pleased with his

less interesting.

Beteyen ibn Mershid himself

is

He

is

a worthy elderly man, well bred as an Ibn

Mershid can hardly help being, but not in any way distinguished. His face is weak and colourless and
answers well to the reputation he bears among the
tribes, that of

man

quite unfit to

command the

Sebaa in troubled times

head, the

like the present.

We

can

easily understand that, with such a

sheykh at their
to accept
is.

Gomussa have been

willing

Jed dan as their real leader, parvenu as he

is

It

the misfortune of the Sebaa that just

now they
young

are without a capable head, the older sheykhs with

the exception of Beteyen being dead, and the

generation not having yet had time to distinguish

and gain the influence necessary to command the tribe in war. The office of Akid, or military leader, is an elective one and dependent Ferhan wdiolly upon personal merit and influence.
itself

en. XX.]

Desert

Laiu-siiit.

105
is,

ibn Hedeb, charming and sensible as he

ibn Mershid, Sviliman's nephew,
likely

wants

the dash necessary for such a position, while Meshur

who

is is

talked of as
still

some day
is is

to

do great things,

a boy.

Beteyen then
but Jedaan
than choice.

nominally in

command
by

of the tribe,

their real leader

necessity rather

The reason
which
to
is

of Beteyen's visit

was that he might

suit,

be present at the decision of an important

being
tried,

and wdiich has been referred

as arbiter.
It is

Mohammed Dukhi

nothing

less

than an action brought against Jedaan by his new

wife's cousin, a

young man

of the Sirhan, for her

recovery, on the plea of his not having consented to

the marriage.

The

case

is

a very curious one, and

we

are

much

interested in the decision, because if

it

given against Jedaan

of the power of law

will be a remarkable instance

among

the tribes.

Jedaan
is

is,

at

the present
cousin
is

moment, omnipotent
as a

here, while the

a person of no influence and

talked of

by everybody
behaved
ill

wrong-headed youth, who has

to the girl

and deserves no countenance.

suit.

Yet

it

is

thought that he will gain his

The

girl, as I

have

said, is nearly thirty

;

and the cousin

only twenty-three

so that his claim to her cannot

be considered

He
it

as anything but one of interest. has refused to marry her himself, or rather put

till the girl's father was Jedaan seems not to have known of the existence of this cousin till after the mar-

off

from year to year,

tired of waiting^.

io6
riage
it

Bcdoiiiji

Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xx.

was arranged, and then to liave thought that would be merely a case of " damages " at worst.
girl herself of

But the cousin has demanded the

father, or four other

the

daughters in her stead, a preit

posterous claim, but one which

seems can legally

father
is

be made.

As a compromise, the
;

willing to

give his only remaining daughter in place of the

one just married

and, by
old

but the cousin will not hear of this,

way

of asserting his right, ran one of the

man's camels through with his spear.

whole matter has been referred to

for decision,

The ]\Iohammed Dukhi

is

and the sheykh's tent

crowded to

hear the verdict.

Abd
is

er

Kahman,
to us,
it

as a learned jurist of Aleppo,

especially interested in this lawsuit

it

and has ex-

plained

most fortunately,

for

we could not
is

understand
discussed
case
is

Avithout him.

AVhat

now

being-

is

the preliminary argument whether the

by Bedouin or Mohammedan law, and, though nobody supposes but what the Bedouin law must prevail, an attempt is being made to subto be tried
stitute

the

other in Jedaan's interests.

Abd

er

Eahman, who knows the Mussulma,n law, has been consulted, and has very likely suggested this line of
action to Jedaan, for according to
offer of
it
i\\(^

father's

a second daughter would be held sufficient

reparation, on the principle that "

an injured

man if

replaced in the position held before injury, ceases to

be injured." The cousin however appeals to Bedouin law, which would either annul the marriage or at

oil.

XX.]

A
give
liim

Divorce Suit.
girl's

107
tliuusmid

least

the

dowry (two

piastres in this instance).

Reports have come in of a ghazu from the

so

liodla,

we have been recommended

A'pril
8.

to keep on the alert

to night.

A
all.

freshed us

heavy shower has fallen and reNo news of the Roala, but everyanxious.
after all shirked deciding the
it

body seems a

little

Mohammed Dukhi
trators,
suit.

lawsuit himself, and has referred

to three arbi-

chosen as in England by the parties to the

of these has been objected to on either
third,

One

side,

and the
declared

afraid

of the responsibility,
to decide,

has

himself unable

without
is

reference to the slieykh of the Sirhan,

who

some-

where down in the Jof, hundreds of miles away. So the case stands over till he can be summoned.'"' We have all marched together to-day some
eight or nine miles, old

Mohammed Dukhi

with his

boy of six years old, ridiug a deliil. While on the march we overtook the Gonmssa and joined a party of them. Amongst them was a
youngest
child, a

* The sequel, we have ascertained, was as follows It was should wait the arrival of the bride's tribe. The betrothed cousin then brought forward his complaint for judgment by the Sheykh, who decided that, the bride having taken no step to oblige her cousin to keep his promise and marrj' her, his right remained valid. This was signified to Jedaan, who at once put the bride on a camel, and sent her to the !^heykh of the Sir-hiin. A great wedding was solemnised, Joddan being one of the guests, and no ill will on either side marred the cordial enjoyment of festivities for three whole days.
:

finally agreed that the case

io8

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates.

[ch.

xx.

young man mounted on a ratlier sliowy colt, which he told us was a Jilfan Stam el bdulad, and he
introduced himself as a son of Mijuel the Mesrab,

who

Damascus as the husband of He was extremely polite, invited an English lady. us to his tent and begged us if we went to Damascus,
is

well

known

at

to go to his father's house.

His

tribe, the

Mesrab,

is

a very small one, and moves about with the Gomussa,

having hardly a separate existence,

indeed part of the Gomussa or Eesallin.
Mijuel's elder brother, a

if

it

is

not

The sheykh,
old

funny

little

man

of

anything but distinguished appearance,

in Beteyen's tent.

we met

later

The young man himself goes Hamdd, but spends the summer at Damascus or Homs, in either As regards of which towns his father has a house.
every winter with the tribe to the
his

ste23mother

we have

constantly

heard

her

spoken of in the desert, and always in terms of

respect.

She

is

a charitable person, and a provi-

dence to her husband's people, supplying them with

money, arms and everything they require.

possessor of boundless wealth, though

Mijuel

himself is talked of as a supremely fortunate man, the

some think
is

his marriage a mesalUancc, as the lady

not of

Arab

blood, consequently not asil (noble).

this,

Presently after

we came upon Beteyen, whose

tent was being pitched in a wady, the entrance to

some broken hilly ground lying north of our line of Here we alighted. There is water somemarch. where close by, in another of the series of pools I

en. XX.]

Gazelle

Hnniers.

109

have mentioned, and we have sent all our animals to drink and the skins to be filled. We have been much interested this afternoon in
a family of Sleb

who

are staying in the

il^n

Gomussa
Malck
is

camp.
such

The head of the family Hut3ran

is

considered the principal slieykh of the Sleb, and as

allowed to

sit

in Beteyen's tent, but the

others remain outside.

He

is

man

of thirty or

thereabouts, with a dark not very prepossessing coun-

tenance,

and a rather sensual look. He is dressed as an Arab, and mio-ht be taken for one at first sio;lit. Two younger men, however, his relations, are exceedingly good looking, with delicately cut features, and the whitest possible teeth. There is a boy too

who

is

perfectly beautiful, with almond-shaped eyes,

and a complexion like stained ivory. A little old woman, not more than four feet high, and two girls of fourteen or fifteen, the most lovely little creatures I ever saw, complete the family. They are all very perfect proportion, their hands and short, but in feet exaggeratedly small, and all have a strange halffrightened smile, and an astonished look in the eyes, which remind one rather of wild creatures than of men and women. Indeed, they go about the camp as if expecting every minute to have to run for their lives, and I am sure they would do it like
gazelles.

Their dress

is

made

entirely of gazelle

garment reaching to the ankles, something in the style of the Arab

skins,

and

consists of a long

mashlakh, but with sleeves reaching to the wrists

iio

Bcdoitin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en. xx.

and sometimes drawn over the hands a capote attached to it covers the head and part of the face, so that muffled up they look Hke the pictures one
;

sees of Greenlanders

only the covering here

On

is

for

protection from the sun rather than the cold.

The Sleb have no horses or camels, only a few

goats and donkeys.
the latter they ride, not
astride but sideways, with a deliil saddle

crutch,

men and women

alike.

and double The women have

jDretence of

none of the Arab modesty, and make no

covering their faces, but go about the
their

camp with

male

relations,

on begging

tours, all together, as

gipsies

do in England.

It is impossible to believe

that these people can be Arabs, though the Bedouins

here declare them to be such, and

calls

Abd

er

Rahman

them Mussulmans

but

all

admit that they are

something quite different from themselves, that they

have customs and practices of their own which no Bedouin would tolerate, that they eat hedgehogs {gmnjit) and tell fortunes, and are of such base
blood that no Bedouin however poor would marry

one of their women, a remarkable thing when one

considers
so

how very beautiful

they

are.

That

it is

we

ascertained from

Hueran

himself, wdio said

simply enough, "

the Arabs
if

would give our daughters to they would take them.''

are the true children of the
it

We

The Sleb

Hamad,

never leaving

summer

or winter, but following the

herds of gazelles as they migrate north and south.

On

these they live,

making

their food, their clothing,

cii.

XX.]

T/ic sic I)

a Strano;c
'c>

Tribe.

and

their tents out of the creatures they catch or

kill.

We are
possible

anxious to see more of them, and find out

if

That they are not mere gipsies is as certain as that they are not mere Arabs but we suspect them of having the same origin with the gipsies, that is to say, that they came originally from India. The extreme smallness of
are.
;

who and what they

their

hands and

feet,

their

low

stature,

and the
this
tribes,

clearness of their notion.

dark

complexions favour

It is quite possible that

left

one of the
as

Bohemians or Gipsies in Europe, may have stopped on the way and settled, if their wandering life can be called set-

which

India and are

now known

We have agreed with Hueran show us the way to the Eoala camp. His people are camped somewhere on the line of pools towards Damascus, and he will be naturally going that way. The Sleb take no part in the Bedouin quarrels, and are molested by neither party,
tling, in the Desert.

that he shall

so that
if all

we can

travel safely with them.

To-morrow,

goes well,

we

shall start.

To-day, like yesterday, has been spent looking at

mares and

horses.

Several

very fine

ones have
is

been brought for us to look

at, for,

though there

no idea of our purchasing, we have expressed a wish The finest are a Dakhmeh em to see all we can.
and a Risheh Sherabi, both belonging to outside breeds, but very perfect specimens. The Eishch is a bay with four white legs, three years old, and
fully fifteen

Amr

hands high, a

great, powerful

mare

the

1 1

Bedonin Tribes of the Euphrates,

a picture of beauty, but smaller.

[ch. xx.

Dakhmeh
new

]Mr. S.
liis

has been trying to persuade Beteyen to transfer

purchase, Abeyeli Sherrdk, to us, but
I

fear it

will be without success.

He

at first said

lie

would,

but afterwards recalled his assent, on the plea that

just now, with the Rodla

war on

his hands,

it

would
It

not look well for

is
little with

him

to part with a useful mare.

probably a matter of money, and we have too

us to be able to offer a really over-powering
visited the

price.

Some Englishmen, who

all

Gomussa

near Aleppo a few years ago, seem to have impressed

them 500

with the idea that

it

is

as easy to get

as

50 from

a European.

were sitting in our tent lookino; at the horses which were brought us from time to time, when a young man of a most agreeable countenance came

We

and

sat

At

first

down we did

in front of

it,

after saluting

Mr.

S.

not

know who he

was, but presently

;

he explained that he was IMeshiir ibn ]\Iershid and ]\Ir. S. recognised him as the son of one of his oldest
friends,

Mitbakh,

Suliraan

ilm

Mershid's

elder

brother,

This

is

and we made him come and sit by us. the young man who was said to have
tent,

and who had sent us the invitation we received at Aleppo The circumquite at the beginning of our travels. stance interested us, and we asked him what his feelino; was about the war, and whether he wished
it

murdered Ibn Shaalan in his own

to go on.
it

""

Ouf,^'

he answered, ("certainly,")

"

must."

"

But

you and

your

people have

CH. XX.]

A
from

Young Hero,

it already. Have you not lost " We enough tents, and mares, and camels must get them back," he said. " And your lives ? was not Ibn Shaalan killed in the war ? " " Yes, Jedaan ibn Shaalan." " He was killed, and hj

suffered

whom \
who

"

" Oh,

Meshiir would

of the Anazeh." ''Wliich V* " not answer. know it was you

by one

We

was clone in battle, and with the spear. Look it went in at his back and came out here," pointing to his right side. " He was dead directly. When he fell I took his I let her go, and mare, but I would not keep her. I took another mare she followed her companions. Meshiir the same day, but I let them both go."* told us all this with the most good-humoured boyish
killed him."
it

" Well,

contrasting strangely with the deeds he described. " Jedaan," he said, " was just my age, (" el
face,

and was a fine horseman,, but it was fated. He was Sotamm's nephew, and he makes the fifth of the family we have killed in comMitbatkh ibn pensation for my father's death."
mesqiiin," poor fellow,)

Mershid was

killed

by

five

men

of the Koala

tribe,.

and

this is

why
if

Meshtir claimed five lives of

theit

latter.

But

the price of blood had been paid,

for only one
life.

would have been

I

took Meshur's portrait, and while doing so a middle-aged man rode up and saluted Mr. S., who
recognised
*

him

as a certain

Seyd ibn Barghash, who

Sheykh
to let

It is considered a chivalrous thing for a

lie

go th&

mare of an enemy
VOL.
II.

has killed.
I

114

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

liim a

[ch. xx.

bad done
an agent

incident was as follows

good turn some years ago. The The King of Italy had sent
:

to Aleppo to

buy
er

horses,
S.'s

and the

Italian

consul there had beo-o-ed Mr.

advice and assist-

ance in the matter.

Abd

Rahman was employed

by them to negotiate for a jDarticular horse they had seen and approved. He set out with the money, about 100, to pay for it, and was attacked near Tudmur by a party of thirty-six Gomussa out on a
ffhazLi.

Abd

er

Eahman
I

in

vain
sent

be2:2;ed

to

be

allowed to pass, saying, "

by the English consul for a horse," but they, not knowing him, would have robbed him had not Seyd ibn Barghash, Avho was of the party, and was a friend of Mr. S.'s, insisted on their letting him go unmolested.

am

Beteyen and Meshur have both been to Hlyel in

the Jebel

Shammar, and give exactly the same

else

account of the horses of Nejd as everyone

given.
say,
I

has

need not repeat

it.

Ibn Rashid, they

buys his horses from them.

it
is

As

to the winter

migration of the Anazeh,

not true that they

ever get as far south as Jebel Shammar.

They

stop

north of the Nefiids, perhaps three or four days'

journey from the

hills,

but they sometimes go there

on ghazus,
however,

or on business to the towns.

Ibn Eashid,

is

not friendly with them, being by birth

a Shammar.

We

were talking over the purchase of his mare

with Beteyen, when a messenger from his tent

CH. XX.]

Threatened Attack.

arrived, begging

him

to return there at once, as a

ghazii from the Eodla

might be expected.
be one of those
beforehand
little

had been seen and an At first we thought it

dramatic incidents

attack
niiglit

arrani>-(.'d

when

negotiations are going on, either

it

to enforce an argument, or to interrupt

at a con-

The more so as Beteyen did not at once take notice of t^lie summons. It was not till several men had ridden up hurriedly to his tent, and
venient moment.

dismounting, stuck their spears in the ground, and

shouted impatiently to him to come, that he rose

with a

sigh, as if unwillingly, to face the necessity

of action.

He

is,

in fact, a poor creature,

and

it is

easy to see that his people have no great respect for him. They spoke to him now in a peremptory tone

one would not expect to hear used towards a shcykh, and still he dawdled, while Meshur, at the first word of fighting, had jumped to his feet and was gone.

We
way
but

did not follow Beteyen, not wishing to be in the

Avhile

we

important matters v/ere being discussed, could see a great coming and going about

the Sheykh's tent, and presently

IMohammed Dukhi
going to look after

came
his

to wish us good-bye,
people.

l^efore

own

The

little

speech he made, was a

model of Oriental politeness. He begged us not to forcret him, and asked Wilfrid to be his vakil, nxissl, or representative, with me to remind me of him, but that, if I required any service of him at any time, then I should require no wassi, but had only to give mv orders Mohammed Dukhi, though too artificial
^
1

Bedouin Tribes of

the Euphrates,

[ch. xx,

in his

manners to please me, is evidently a man of character. The way he treats and is treated by his> people is quite a different thing from Beteyen's. The Welled Ali are kept by him in capital order,, and no one dares sit down in the sheykh's tenty
unless he be of a certain rank.

Mohammed
u^:),

Dukhi's
is-

peremptory "gum, gum," ("get

heard the
they
that liberty.
like,

get up,")

moment an unauthorised person takes^ With Beteyen, they all do just as and he is too mild and timid to make a
visit, inter-

remark.
Beteyen's harem, to which I paid a
ested

me on

account of the history of the principal

it.

personage in

The hatoun Fey d eh was the wife

Mershid,
after

of Suliman ibn

Avhose
is

death she

married his cousin, Beteyen.

She

a daughter of
to-

Mohammed

el Faris,

brother to Sfuk, and uncle

Ferhan Pasha, Abd ul Kerim and Faris. She seemed dehghted to talk to me about her own people, the Shammar, and spoke of Faris as " a
sweet boy."
Adsit I liked her,

but the j^leasure of

child,

my

was

spoiled

by her second

Hazah, a boy
such a noise

of two, beginning to cry for a coffee cup and refusing

to be comforted or silenced.

He made

that

we

could hardly hear ourselves speak.

five,

Besides

the spoilt baby. Fey deb has a boy of

;

named

Adudn, a nice little fellow both these are SiiliThere were so many tiresome man's children. people sitting round in the tent, that even without the noise I could not have got much talk out of

CH. XX.]

The NigJit
I

before the Batik.

Feytleh, and indeed saw Hanna coming

to say that the

tent.

was extremely glad when I Beg wanted to

speak to

me

at our

own

The ghazii story is not a sham this time. Scouts have come in announcing the approach of a large body of horsemen, a thousand they say, with advanced parties of men on dromedaries, armed with muskets. One party of fifty are reported to be quite close. They were seen in a wady, just ov^er the brow of a hill not two miles off, yet, such seems to be the helplessness of the Gomussa for want of a chief, that no attempt is being made to cut off this small party, nor any preparation for meeting the enemy till Jedaan shall arrive. Messengers
have been sent off post haste for him, and other messengers to call in outlying sections of the trilje, and w^arn them to keep with the main body. ]\Ieshur is the leading spirit in this, young as he is, and Beteyen is quite put aside. For our own part, we have contented ourselves with tethering our mares
at the tent door and having everything ready for a

sudden march.
tion,

We

are rather in

an exposed posi-

being at the extreme edge of the Anazeh camp with no tents between us and the threatened danger

but Ghdnim, who

ghazii will not

is

a Eoala, assures us that the

us,
is

meddle with

and we are anxious

hoping to see somethronged with

only for our mares.

tliino;

Wilfrid

of the battle, which seems imminent for to-

morrow morning.

Beteyen 's camp

is

people coming and going, and from every tent

wo

U8

Bedouin Tribes of
.sono;

the EtipJirates.

[en. xx.

can hear the war

chanted in unison.
:

The

Gomussa chant
V
*r

is V

as follows
"

V
^^*

"

1*

fk

-K

iizt

^ :*V-F=i=S^

W^0^-
t=it^:

:^

i^t?^

or sometimes a third lower

V

tliat

of the

Moayaja major instead of minor

V

v.__vv_^
ESE
zhz

V.

=-?-Ji~i^

j^=?sr>-f-

-^v

fz:*:

^S^
:t?=5

and that of the Welled Ali

less

melodious

-8
or thus

^-^ g*-

The rhythm of the two first chants, the Gomussa and Moayaja, is extremely fine that of the third, which I cannot write otherwise than by seven quavers in the bar, produces an odd effect, and
;

sounds incomplete.
A'pril
9.

Something very

like a panic

has seized

the

Gomussa camp.

The day had hardly begun to

CH. XX.]

A
Avlien

Panic and Retreat.

119

dawn

every tent was struck, and a precipitate

across the
hills.

AVe sent Mowhat was going to be done, and all the answer was that he must join Jedaan, who was somewhere " out there " to the The Goniussa were in such a huny that we north. soon found ourselves left alone but AVilfrid, who had ridden to some risino- o-round in the direction of the reported enemy, coming back without having seen
retreat

commenced

hammed

to the Sheykh's tent, to ask

anything,
ably,

we determined

to

have our

coffee comfortfire

and made Hanna light his

while

the

camels were loading.

did as he was
line of retreat,
told.

He was
To the
still

rather flurried, l)ut

north, guarding the

we

could

see parties of horse-

men

occupying the heights, and there was no danger

of our not catching

up our

friends.

We

were very
is

unwilling to go after them, for their march

quite

out of our way,

the rest,
sides,

Ijut the Sleb have disappeared with and we had no choice but to follow. Be-

we
of.

are

still

hankering after Beteyen's mare,

to give

which we should be sorry altogether

hopes

up

As we were
south,

sittins; drinkino;

our coffee with the

camels just loaded, a horseman appeared from the

and for a moment we thought it one of the enemy, but it proved to be Meshiir who had ventured out alone to reconnoitre. He had seen nothing, but advised us not to stay any longer so far from the main body, and then rode away to join the men on the hills. So we mounted and followed the

I20

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch,

xx.

wady, along which Beteyen and his people had travelled. An Arab march is slow, even when at its

and in an hour or so we came upon the stragglers, and then upon the main body. We rode up a height, and from it saw the wonderful sight of twenty or thirty thousand camels, with a proportionate number of horsemen and footmen, converging by half-a-dozen winding wadys, towards a central plain commanded by a high tell on which the horsemen were o-atherino;. It was difficult to understand why so vast a host should have been scared by the report of even a thousand horsemen. The plan of campaign, if plan there was, seems to have been to concentrate the forces in an open place,
quickest
;

for

when

first

threatened with attack the tribes were

scattered in a
-other,
Still,

number

of

wadys out of

sight of each

and were

in danger of being beaten in detail.

we cannot yet understand why a body

of

horsemen equal or superior to that of the Roala was Every tribe and every .section, on the contrary, retreated with its own escort, and no attempt was made to-day at taking
not sent out against them.
the
off'ensive.

This has disappointed us, for

we
are

expected better things of Jedaan.

Our camels
last

such good walkers that from being

we soon

joined the head of the column at which we found

Beteyen, mounted, not on his mare as a sheykh

should have been at such a moment, but snugly

on

his delul, with his favourite child in a pannier

beside

him and a black

slave

squatting behind.

CH. XX.]

Bedouin

Tactics.

We
self,

tliouglit lie

seemed rather ashamed of

is

liim-

Lut

it

is

evident he

not a

little

further on

we

overtook

man of war, Mohammed Dukhi

sliee],

in a similar position, keeping guard over his

for the

Welled Ali have their sheep with them, and these are always sent to the front on a mareli. JVlohammed Dukhi has the excuse of his lost arm,

and

at least he shows energy in council.

The

thing,

however, struck us as unworthy of a

reputation.

man

of his

About a mile beyond the

Tudmur

hills,

and in sight of the Beteyen stopped, and the Gomussa

tell,

tents soon

made

a Ijrave show on the level plain they

have chosen, with the Welled Ali in front of them,

and other tribes arrivino- from the east and southeast. It was terribly hot, and we had a disagreeal^lc
hour's waiting
pitched,
in

the sun before the tents were

and then we discovered that there was no we brought any with us in the hurry of the retreat. This is most annoying as it hampers our movements in every way, and will oblige us probably to make a forced march to-morrow. If it was not for Beteyen's mare, which we still hope to get, we would not stay here now, but go Ijack to the pools we have left. AVe have not come more
water, nor had

than twelve miles to-day.

While waiting in this ^^'ay, young ]\Ieshur came in from the rear with information that the Eoiila had retreated, at least from our part of the line, and everybody was delighted at the news. Still

122

Bedouin Tribes of the EiLphrates.

[en. xx.

no attempt was made at followiDg them, even with a small party of horsemen who might have clone so without any danger, the Gomiissa being so much All this is from better mounted than the Koala.

want of a trusted
tent,

leader.

As Meshur

said

"

We

are like sheep here without a shepherd."

The great

by,

however, was at last pitched, and our own close and towards it horsemen came riding in from all points of the compass. It was a grand opportunity for looking over the Gomussa mares, and

one

we

did not neglect.

all

It

is

not worth while

mentioning

we saw to-day, but amongst others was brought the dam of our coveted Abeyeh, a fine
handsome than her daughter. Many of the best shaped animals were fearfully disfigured with firing, while others had hopeless backs, and others again feet ruined by long
old brood mare, though
less

standing in the iron fetters used

l:>y

the Arabs to

prevent stealing.
could be called

With

all

the real merit, however,

of these mares, there were hardly a dozen which

first-class,

and not one equal to the

Abeyeh, or more

beautiful than our

of
thirty

own

Saade.

At
face

last,

body

headed by Jedaan on his Kehilnn Akhnis.

horsemen arrived, His

wore a curious expression, partly of satisfaction, partly of disgust, and we read it to mean the con-

tempt he

felt for his allies,

and the pleasure

at find-

ing himself so necessary to them.

Satisfaction at

the result of the day's manoeuvres he can scarcely

have, for
it

now

turns out that, although the Eoala

cH.xx.]

A
it

Neiv Brother.

123

have retreated,
demonstration

has not been empty-handed.

ai^ainst the

The
all

made

Gomiissa was in
of the

probability a feint, for the

fell

main body

enemy
wlio

upon an outlying

section of the AVelled

.Vli

had disregarded Mohammed Dukhi's orders

in.

to close

From

these they have taken a thousand camels,

losing,

however, some mares, and a

is

Mohammed Dukhi
been going on
but nothing
is

very angry, but

man killed. why was he

war has

not at the head of his

all

men

A
of

council of

the afternoon in Beteyen's tent,

likely to

come

it.

AVe are getting

rather ashamed of our friends. The only man among the Gomussa is young Meshiir, and we look upon him as the future leader As we were sitting with him and of the tribe.

Beteyen in our tent this evening, Wilfrid began admiring some silver-hilted pistols he was wearing

had belonged and without to Suliman ibn IMershid, his uncle unbuckled them and handed them more ado he
at his girdle,

and which he

told us

to

AVilfrid,

insisting

that

he should keep them.

was pleased at the manner in which he did this, but answered that he could not accept them, unless Meshiir would in turn accept his
AVilfrid

revolver, and, moreover,

become

his brother.

Both

proposals were very joyfully accepted, and the oath was exchanged in presence of Beteyen, who looked

on the while rather crest-fallen at the honour done Meshiir has since this been exceedto his nephew. ingly nice and affectionate to us, and has shown us

24

Bcdoitin Tribes of the EtLphrates.

[ch, xx.

all sorts

of attentions, besides coming to dine with

I fear,

ns in our tent this evening.

however, that

the incident will not have improved our prospects

with Beteyen of getting his mare.

Before
o^ivins;

But no matter.

Meshiir the revolver, Wilfrid

it

made him
and he

promise that he would never use

This Meshur
readily did,
friends,
for,

against Faris.

he

said, Faris

were already

Ghanim

has been round

though they had never met. all the camps with the
little

mares, to beg for water, and got a

here and a

little there, but the Anazeh seem to give themselves very little trouble about carrying water with them.

The only person who had any quantity to spare was Ibn Kardush, sheykh of the Mesekha. Others had given milk or lebben, which the mares drank, The Sleb have disbut they like water better.
appeared from our camp, so our plan of going with them has fallen through. It is very tiresome. We
shall

now have

to

make

a long

march nearly due

north, to a well called Boharra, not ten miles south

of Tudmur, and

all

out of our

way

but water we
march
to-

must have to-morrow.

Aiyril 10.

We have had a long

He was
jealous, I

thirsty

day, though not altogether a dull one. 1 am sorry to say that we did not part friends

with Beteyen.
favour Meshur
presents

suppose,

of the

has found in our eyes,

and of the

we have given him, and at parting this morning, he made a sort of begging speech to ]\Ir, S., who told him he ought to be ashamed of himself

<!H.

XX.]

A
it.

Rusk for

lValcj\

125

for

AVe had already promised him the cloak, due to his position as Sheykh, as soon as we should be able to buy liim one, but he was not
satisfied.
I

making

am

sorry
to

all

the same that

as

j\lr.

S.

should have
told

spoken

him

he did, for he
of a fellah.

him

his request

was only worthy

Meshur,

who was
o

present, very properly took his

uncle's part, but Beteyen

Of

course

all nesfotiations

would not be appeased. for the mare are now at

an end, but
that

I care

more

for the disairreeable thousfht

we have made an enemy

marched a
little

our

only one

in

the desert.

We

earlier

than

the rest

of

Gothe day with an mussa, and travelled on during advanced party of Welled AJi, who were hurrying on to the wells with their sheep, now two days
our neighbours, and soon
got clear of the

without being watered.

These Welled Ali sheplittle

herds are a rougher set than the Sebda, and were not
over-polite.
I

think with a

encouragement in
were too well

the

way

of timidity on our part, they might even

Ave

have become aggressive, but

mounted and too well armed The plain to-day was covered Avith hares, which jumped up before us as the great line of camels, sheep, and horsemen swept it like an army of beaters. These were pursued ]3y greyhounds, and by Wilfrid on horseback, who coursed and shot two
to be afraid of them.

alone on Hagar.

She

is

quite

frosli

again in spite

of the heat and the scarcity of water, nnd enjoyed

126

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates.

[ch. xx.

the galloping amazingly.

We

were travelling

all

day towards was said to

tlie hills, at

the foot of which the well

fast

be,

and our impatience and the

pace of our camels carried us in front of the whole

Anazeh army.

Their march was indeed like that

it

of a flight of locusts, as

covered perhaps ten

miles in breadth, eating up every green thing before

Green things just here were scarce enough, though every now and then we crossed a wady with some good grass. We had been told that we should see a ruined tower, and that the wells would be
it.

found near
alone,

it,

so

we pushed on

till

we were

quite
close

and our day's march must have been

last

on forty miles. It was half-past three when we at

the delightful shade of the ruin, the

reached
build-

first

ing

we have

seen since leaving Arak.

It

seems

to have been a convent once, in the days

when
cut

Palmyra was on the stone

discovered

city,

for

there

is

cross

lintel

of the gateway,

and we have

and the foundations of a church. have been a solitary place, It though perhaps the lower Damascus road may have There are several wells, with a passed near it. good supply of water, and one can make out the traces of ancient fields or gardens in the wady,
cells

must even then

watered from

these.

Now,

all

is

desolate enough.

pair of rock pigeons and some kestrels are the

only inhabitants.

The tower

is

square and of good

cut stone, in the same

style as the old buildings of

vH. XX.]

Meshiir follozus
wliicli is

to

say Good-bye.

12

Palmyra,
miles
off.

not more tlian twelve or fifteen

of course,

Mohammed,
deep,

knows the
;

place,

and

calls

the tower Kasr

Hazim
was

the wells, Sakr.

These are
for

to be unable to get at the water before the camels arrived,

it

and

tantalising

we had

left

them some way behind,

in our

anxiety to get a drink.

While

"waiting

under the ruined tower, and half

hill

asleep, w-e

suddenly heard the Arab war chant, and

hand.

looking up, saw a horseman cantering over the

behind

For a moment we Avere mystified into thinking he might be an enemy, but

us, lance in

he was alone, and, as he drew near,

his voice.

thought

knew

Presently

we

recognised ]\Ieshur on his

last good-bye.
it

grey mare, come to wish his brother a

We

were very much pleased to

see him, for

showed a good feeling on his part to have left his people to pay us a visit, as the tribes have halted
several miles short of the wells.
his mare,

We

asked about

and he

told

us she was a Hadbeh, and

believe,
for

very

fast,

which we can well

she

is

extremely handsome, and has a fine way of moving.

She
it,

is

twelve years old, though she does not look

and, as he says, they grew up together and have

it

never been parted, and

was mounted on her back

that he killed Jedaan ibn Shaalan last year.

He

entreated Wilfrid to take her as a j)resent,

all

she was

he had worth giving

but this of course could

arrived, and,
^^hiIe

not be.

Meanwhile the camels

the

128

Bedouin Tribes of
pitching,

the Euphrates,

[en. xx.

tents were

a frightful

wrangling arose
disputants were

among the servants. Ghanim and Ferlian,

fere,

The
ayIio,

chief

before

we could

inter-

had come

to blows.

IMeshur rushed in and

separated them, pushing Ghanim back, who had already drawn his knife and was looking " ugly."

On
Avas

inquiring into the cause,

tired of havino- the

it

appeared that Ferhan

whole work of the camelshoulders,

driving thrown on his

and

had been

exasperated at last by Ghanim's riding the chestnut

mare,

when we were out

servants
of

of sight, after a gazelle,

in spite of the sore back she has lately had.

The

Christian

course

took

part

against

Ghanim, but of that we took no notice. Wilfrid, however, made Ferhdn affirm on oath all that he had said, and then Ghanim admitted that it was He true, and Wilfrid told him to leave the camp. went away in dudgeon, and sat for an hour or so on the top of the tower, but then came down and Meshur, too, begg-ed me to intercede for him.

we really like the boy, him if Ferhan would declare himself satisfied, and Ghanim would j^romise Ferhan, who is there should be no more trouble.
spoke in his favour, and, as
AVilfrid consented to forgive

the kindest-hearted

creature in the world, readily

and Ghanim gave the promise in " ala rdsi" '"on my head be it," the usual form,
agreed to this,

so the matter has ended.

am

glad of

it,

as it is

the only quarrel

we have had on

the journey.
all

We

have been entertaining Meshur with

the

en. XX.]

We

read

ojir Letters.

29

hospitality

we can command, and he has dined but woukl not stay the night. There would be danger for him, he said, to stay away so
with
us,

far

from his people, on account of the blood-feud he has with the Ibn Shaalan. I have given him a
telling him that and greatgrandfather, which has made him value it the more, and now he has mounted his mare and cantered back the way he came. He is a brave, warm-hearted boy, and, unless he is overtaken by fate in his wars and blood-feuds, will be a great man some day.
silver

handled knife as a keepsake,

it

belonged to

my grandfather

The water
air.

here,

when

first

drawn, tastes of rotten

eggs and sulphur, but improves on standing in the

It

seems to be quite wholesome.

We have now

bade good-bye to the Sebaa, and

set,

having our heads

as the

Arabs

say,

towards
is

come so I leave off in fear and for reading; our letters do so, for we have had no news from trembling, to home since the 20 th of November, nearly five months ago.
home, Wilfrid has
agjreed that the
:

moment

CHAPTER
How the
earth biims
!

XXI.

each pebble underfoot

;

power to wound. The white sand quivers and the footfall mute Of the slow camels strikes but gives no sound,
Is as a living thing with

As

if

they trod the

;

air,

not solid ground.

-

'Tis

noon
fire

and the
;

Back

to their feet

beasts' shadows even are fled and there is fire around,

And

beneath, and, overhead, the sun.

March under a bm-ning sun The Welled Ali and their sheep We come to the Koala camp One hundred and fifty thousand

Sotamm Ibn Shaalan receives usDiplomatic checks Sotamm's wife The UttfaMohammed's choiceGoodbye
camels
to the Desert.

April

11.

Tliank

God! our news

is

all

good

news, and

we can go on liglithearted now to the end of our journey, enjoying the prospect thoroughly of the delights of home. We left the Bir Sakr this morning, just as the flocks of the Welled Ali were beffinnino; to arrive. Poor creatures they have had no water these three days, and have been driven in their thick winter
!

fleeces at least fifty miles

under a burning sun. We did not stop to talk long with the shepherds, but
south-west in the direction of Damascus.

made away

Everyone assures us that we shall meet the Roala on the road, or at least a party of Sleb, who will
tell

us where the Roala are.

Then Mohammed has

> ^

.1

\i>,iM^

en. xxr.]

Quails and Cuckoos.

i^i

a vague knowledge of the country for some miles farther yet, and a black slave from Beteyen's tent
is

tion.

with us, recommended by Mcshiir to our protecHe, too, knows something of the road. Our

way lay up a wady between two well-marked ridges, and at nine we passed a ruined khan on the old Palmyra road, called according to Mohammed, Halbe. The country is covered with scadet poppies, camomiles white and yellow, irises, and a sort of pink
aster, all in the greatest profusion, as if in a flower

garden.

We
and
I

have stopped

for the night in a

dry water-

course thick with grass, in which quails are calling,

can hear a cuckoo not far

first

oft',

sitting probably

in a solitary hetdn tree, the

of the sort

we have
tlie

seen in the Desert.

The

betiin

is

a kind of ash, and

common enough
Sahara.
is

along the dry river beds of

call
it

Here they

oppressively hot.

The eveningGhanim has begun singing to

hiitton.

his rebab something about the " harh Ihii Shaaldn,"

the Eoala war.

miles.

Our march to-day was eighteen

Mohammed
to our
left,

has climbed to the top of the ridge

the plain beyond.*

and has come back with the news that

fires in

he has seen camp

Ap7il

12.

Another

terribly hot

morning, but

about noon a strong wind sprang up from the northwest, tempering the
fortunate, for
* This must

power of the sun, and it was we had to wait two hours without
been Ibn Sliaalun returning from his ghazu.

liaye

132

Bedouin Tribes of the Ettphrates.

[ch. xxr.

shade at a well.

had been overtaken in the course of the morning by a couple of men mounted on a dromedary, who had been sent after us by Meshur to show us the way. They were Eoala who

We

had gone
wife,

to the Sebaa in the suite of their Sheykh's

when
;

she had chosen to return to her father

it

Jedaan
these

and

shows how

liberal the

Bedouins

are,

in their toleration of individuals while at war, that

men had been

living for

some weeks

in Je-

daan's tent, at the very

moment

that their master,

Ibn Shaalan, was advancing against him. Now they were being sent back without so much, I believe, as
a pledge not to reveal secrets.

The truth

is,

in

Bedouin strategy as in Bedouin politics there is no Every member of the tribe possibility of secrecy.
has a right to

know

everything that happens, and,

from the very publicity of what goes on, there is no fear of spies. It is useless to try and conceal the
truth, so

no attempt to do so is made. The black slave was very ill to-day, and lay in a half torpid state on his camel, with his head hanging down
its

over

shoulder and exposed to the full glare of

the sun.
to get

But

this is all the comfort

Arabs expect

when they

are

ill.

They somehow manage

by a small hundred or so of
also

to sleep in this position without falling off

At the well we were overtaken

party of Welled Ali, driving a

sheep and lambs

at Damascus.
I

l)efore

them

for the Easter sales

cannot think

many
is

of

them

will

arrive there alive, for the weather

prodigiously

CH. XXI.]

March 2mder a Bummjr

Suji.

hot and they arc making forced marches.

good

and they have given us one which, as we are short of provisions, we are glad enough to take. When the shepherds see that a lamb can go no farther they cut its throat, and
then the meat
not be so
accord.
if
is

many lambs

are already dead,

lawful eating, though

it

would

the

animal

had died of

its

own
had

We

should hardly have found the well

it

if it

not been for the Eoala, as

tracks leading to

lay in a very unlikely

place and, not having been used this year, had no

it.

It is

very deep, sixty

feet, as
is

we measured by
sweet and good.

the rope used; but the water

Its

name

is

Busep-i.

All the

beasts, camels as well as mares,

drank copiously,

my
with

mare, the most abstemious, not being content

less

than four buckets

full.

The Welled Ali

shepherds have insisted on keeping company with

us, in the lioj^e of getting

through the Roiila country

but their attempt to go
inexplicable.
fifteen
all

under our protection

through at
nice
!

all

is

to

me
and

They have
camels and a

with them, besides the sheep,

looking mare
foal,

lawful prize of

war April
sheep
things,

13.

No

abatement of the

heat.
out,

The
poor

go with their tongues hanging

and

their

owners have shorn some of them

in the hopes of saving them.

Soon
left.

after Ave started,

we

passed between two high

hills,

right

and

Rummakh

to the

Keukle lo the The Koiila told

134

Bedotiin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xxi.

was a great warrior skill with the spear, ruimnh, was called Rummakh. He lived on this hill and kept a wife on the opposite hill, and another on a third still farther on. The name of the first was Kokhle,
:

us this story of them

There

who, from his

because she blackened her eyes with kohl

but the

was Ada. Ada was the favourite wife, and I quite expected the story to have gone on to say that one day, vexed with their perpetual quarrelling, Rummakh had run them both through the body with his spear, when the Roala stupidly stopped, and said they had forgotten the rest
of the second of
it.

name

AVe have made a brisk march

all

day, doing quite

three and a half miles in the hour, and beguiled

by

the assurances of the Koala that their friends were

close at hand.

About two

o'clock Wilfrid

fonnd a

small hole in the limestone rock, holdinsr a few

bucketsfull

which we gave to our mares, and then we came suddenly on some people filling their goatskins from a larger hole of the same sort a mile farther on. We have been eight hours on the march, and must have got over thirty miles
of rain-water,

of ground
close by,

and now, although the Roala are

really

beautiful

and the
this

we have stopped just short of them in a wady full of grass, sending on Ghanim two men on the deliil to announce our
Ibn Shaalan's
tent.

arrival at

Mr.

S.

recommends
I

on the score of our dignity, and

the mares' and camels' sake,

am

glad of
sure

it for

who

are

now

cii.

XXI.]

The Rodla arc Generous.

135

The site of a Bedouin by any chance they have happened to occupy the same ground more than two nights, is generally eaten as bare as a board, and unexpected
camp,
if

of a good evening's meal.

guests suffer

in

consequence.

We

have killed a
forty-

centipede in the tent quite six inches long. Glianim

calls it

"OmArba oarham"

(the

"mother of

four"), alluding to its legs.

dozen or so of the

Koclla have come to our camp from their own, which they tell us is close by, just over the brow of a low hill. They are in high delight at the success of their ghazii, for Ibn ShaaUn came back yesterday, and to-day they have been dividing the
spoils.

While we were entertaining them with coffee, should come up but the Welled Ali shepherds. The chief man of our new guests, one Abu Ghiddeli,'" asked who they were and whether the sheep were ours. " They have followed us," wc said, " but

who

they are not ours

we do not

interfere."

We

ex-

pected an instant raid to follow, for indeed the

Roala had every right to the prize

deli

but

Abu

Gliid-

only laughed.
("

shebdat"

"31a Never mind, we have

still

ikhdlif" he said, " nakhiia

all

had enough").

So here they are

unmolested.

Ghanim has returned. The first words Sotamm said to him, when he heard who we were and whence we had come, were " Have they brought my wife
* Abu Ghiddeli is the owner of the best strain of Maneghi blood known, better even than Ibn Sbeyel's.

136

Bedouin Tribes of

t lie

Etiplwates.

[cu. xxr.

back to

me

"

He

sent word,
to

however, to say
himself

we were welcome, and

tent
is

excuse

from
His

coming to meet us, on the score of fatigue.

fully eight miles
14.

away.

Sunday, April

To-day

we have

seen the

most wonderful spectacle the Desert has to shovv^ We came upon it quite suddenly, the Eoala camp.
as,

crossing a low ridge of rising ground,

we looked
it

down

over the plain of Saighal and saw

covered,

as far as the eye could reach, with a countless multiIn tude of tents and men and mares and camels.

the extreme distance, at least ten miles away, lay

the lake of Saighal glittering white in the sun

and

the whole space between it and where we stood seemed occupied, while east and west there was at We have estimated least an equal depth of camp. the whole number of tents at twenty thousand, and
of camels at a hundred

and

fifty

thousand

and, at

the sight, I

one

first

an emotion of almost awe, as when Nothing that we have seen sees the sea.
felt

hitherto in the

way

of multitude approaches to this.

The Sebaa, with their allies, may be as numerous, but they have not a fourth part of the Roala camels, nor have we on any occasion seen them all collected thus in one place. It gave us, too, an immense idea
of the real size of the tribe thus congregated, to find

was more than two hours before we arrived at Sotamm's tent, which stood, they told us, in the centre of the camp, and that durinsf all our route we were never a hundred
that, travelling at our usual pace, it

cH. XXI.]

Hundred

& Fifty

TJiousand Camels.

137

yards away from a tent.

Sheep there were none, however, except high up on the slopes of the sur-

and we were struck by tlie comparatively small number of the mares. Camels seemed everything, and of these herd after herd we passed through, of a hundred, and five hundred, and a thousand strong. The tents themselves are smaller than
rounding
hills,

those of the Sebaa, and only the Sheykh's

imposing one.

It is set
feet
it

on nine

poles,

haps a hundred
them.
all

from end
is

to end.

is an and is perOf creature

comfort, however,

as destitute as the rest of

and a few camel saddles are two tall coffee-pots and a Percoffee ladle, two yards long set upon wheels. A haps a hundred people were seated in the tent.
bit of carpet
its

furniture, with

little

dark-faced

man

of aljout thirty,

much

pitted

with small-pox and Avearing a pink cotton kefiye,

received us as
culty

we dismounted, and with some diffiwe recognised in him tSotamm ibn Shaalan,
of Ibn Shaalan, though not accounted

the Sheykh of the Roala.

The family

of the oldest nobility, has nevertheless the greatest

hereditary position of any in the Desert.

Sotamm

can boast that by

right of birth he rules over a

population of at least twenty thousand souls, and

can bring

five

thousand
out,

men
its

into the

field.

How
it

the family

first

acquired

position I

have not

been able to find

for so respectable a

but they have held

now

number

of generations, that the

sheykhdom

is

hereditary with tliem, the Ibn Jeudals

138

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xxi.

and Tayars notwitlistanding * Among the Sebda, and the other Anazeh, there is nothing of the sort,
for each section there of the tribes has its

own

inde-

pendent sheykh, and Jedaan's position with them

Only the Jerba family at all compare with the Ibn Shaaliins in importance, while in wealth and power the Koala stand far above the Shammar. With all this, Sotamm himself does not appear to have much influence with his people. It is easy to see that he is weak and irresolute, a mere puppet in their hands. He is not even their akld or military leader, which he could not fail to be, if he had any of the qualities necessary for the position. The Akid of the Eodla is a little old man named Hamid, Sheykh of the Majil, a section of the tribe. It was he that led the ghazu the other day, not Sotamm, though Sotamm was of the party. Our reception here has been polite and amiable,
is

merely a personal one.

in

Mesopotamia can

but not particularly

has
left

cordial.

Sotamm complains

of

being tired and knocked up with his campaign and

us alone most of the day.

In the afternoon,

however, he came with Sheykh Hamid, the Akid,

pay us a visit, and we took the opportunity to open negotiations witli him on the subject which most interests us, our diplomatic mission from Before leaving the Sebaa, Abd er Eahman, Jediian.
to

the Aleppine Doctor of Divinity, w^ho

is

my

fellow

* Compare the account of the Drayhy ibn Chaldan in the Eecit de

Fatalla Sayeghir, as given by Lamartine.

en. XXI.]

Tf^e

propose Terms of Peace.

39

plenipotentiar}- in this matter, got special instructions

now
basis
1.

from Jeddan as to terms, and we are authorised to propose an arrangement on the following
Peace
shall

be made.

2.

All claims for losses

by

either side shall be

considered settled.
3.

Ibn Shaalan

shall

withdraw

his claim to the

pastures of
4.

Homs and Hama.

The Sebaa will receive the Eoiila as guests in Upper Desert, where there is room for all. These very fair terms we have proposed this afternoon to Sotamm and the Akid, supporting tliem with all the aro;uments we could command. I told
the

Sotamm

that a

man

in a great position, such as his,

should give an example of

wisdom

to his people,

and

not be led

away by

the mere lust of glory, which

;

makes fools of the common sort of men that he must know that an aimless war like this, between two Anazeh tribes, was ruinous to both of them that the camels he seized to-day would be taken from him to-morrow, for the fortune of war was
always turning
profited
;

that the only people

who

really

by such fighting were the Turks, the enemies of them all, and that he should know better
than to play into the hands of Pashas and Mutesherifs. Sotamm assented to all tliis, admitted that

the Turkish Government were primarily to blame in

the cparrel, but maintained that the

war must now

go on.

His people wished

it

and he could not con-

40

Bedouin Tribes of the

them.

EnpJi7'ates.

[ch. xxi.

trol

The Akid was much more favourably

disposed for peace.

He

is

an old

man and

has seen

many
little

wars, and

knows how

little

good and how

glory comes of them, but his business was not

to decide such questions for the tribe, only to lead

them when they chose to fight. As to the pashas it was impossible to do anything with them without
wanted commercial advantages with the towns, which could only be procured
presents,

and the

tribe

by paying handsomely.
/.

"

And

yet, if the

Anazeh were united,

it

would

not be the sheykhs

pashas.

who would

bring gifts to the

Then, Sotamm, instead of sending mares to

Hama, would himself receive pensions and robes of It was by the quarrels among themselves honour. that the Anazeh lost their hold over the towns which used to pay them tribute, and now the Turks have it all their own way. They have not even
to fight, for the Eoala do that business for them."

Sotamm. " My people do not understand these things. They find it more profitable to be friends with the Government and do what the Pasha tells them." /. "And that is, to make war with their brethren. You will be sorry for it some day, when the Turks drive you all back to Nejd the way you came." Sotamm. " I can only do what my people wish. They want the plains of Hama for their camels, which have increased, thank Grod, and multiplied these last four years, so that the Hamad cannot any
lonQ;er contain

them."

CH. XXI.]

Fruitless Diplomacy.

/,

"

in the

The Sebaa consent to receive you as guests Upper Desert. There is room there for all of
;

you."

Sotamm. " Yes but the Turks no not wish us to make peace." This was the burden of his tale, and it is evident that he is too weak to lead or govern his people. The Akid, however, has consented to argue the case
tribe, and they on the ground about a hundred yards off, in council on the proposals. Besides Sotamm and the Akid, we have had a

with the principal sheykhs of the

are

now

sitting in a circle

considerable circle of visitors off and on at our tent.

Their principal talk was of the ghazu, which they

consider a very successful one.

They were only

five

days away altogether, and had eighty miles to march

each way, the return journey being of course impeded by the captured camels they had to drive. It was certainly their camp fires Mohammed saw from
the hill above Buseyri.

We

were surprised to hear

are,

that

the

Rodla,

powerful as they

can only

muster a thousand horsemen on an expedition of this sort. But they explained the matter by telling
us, that

now they managed

their fighting in another

effective.

way, which they found more

mares, most of

Instead of

them now ride deliils and take firearms with them, sitting two on each camel and back to back. This mounted infantry goes by the name of seyman, and of them four or five thousand can be mustered. Only a few, however, accompanied

142

Bedouin Tribes of the Ettphrates.

[en. xxr.

this late

ghazu, and these only in the capacity of

scouts.

The ten men with

wady,

their

deluls,

crouched

in the

whom

AVilfrid

came

across the

day

we

arrived at Jedaan's camp, were undoubtedly a

party of them, sent on before to get news, and spy

out the weak points of the Sebaa

Jelaas are here together

line.

All the

now

in the plain, a thing

that does not happen once in twenty years,

all

with

the exception of five hundred tents under Tellal, a

cousin of Sotamm's,
sheykli
year.

who

has quarrelled with the

and stays behind near Jebel Shammar this The quarrel is, I believe, a domestic one, in
It is

which
very
tents,

their wives are principally concerned.

difficult to

get at the true

five

number

of the Koala

some saying

thousand and others twenty

to have

thousand.

The Bedouins seem

no idea of
is

counting, and generally exaggerate, yet Wilfrid

of

opinion that twenty thousand

is

nearer the mark.

fair

hundred and

fifty

thousand seems to be a

guess at the

number

of their camels.

The thousand

camels captured this week have been divided

those

among
be dis-

who took

part in the ghazii, and

may

tinguished by the fetters which they have on their

forelegs to prevent their straying

homewards.

There

are also in

camp

a great

many
sort.

black camels from

the Nejd.
less

These are smaller, scraggier, and give

milk than the

common

They
little

are held in

less estimation.

Amongst

others,

Sotamm's

boy

came,

brought by his nurse, a very pretty child of four

en. XXI.]

Peace or War'?

143

years old,

named Maiisur

(Victorious), with

plump
all

rosy clieeks and a friendly disposition, not at

sliy as the children here generally are.

across the tent all alone to give

the Akid has come 1)ack with

He walked me a kiss. Hamid Abd er Rahman to

I fear it

give us news of the council of war, for

can

hardly be hoped to be one of peace, though nothinghas yet been

settled.
It

appears that

received a letter from Jevdet Pasha, the

of Damascus, which he has got

Sotamm has new Valy Abd er Rahman to

epistle,

read for him.

It is a

very curt

forbidding

the Roiila to go any further north this year than

where they are. But it concludes with these words, " if you have anything to say to me on this score, I will see you at Damascus and listen patiently." This, Sotamm, and everyone else, take to be on the Pasha's part, ",9a maniere de tirer une carotte." The new Valy, it is said, is " hungry," and must
have
go
his share.

So Sotamm

is

making ready

to

Damascus to-morrow with presents in and is more than ever determined to his hand, I fear it is follow up his game with the Turks. arguing further, even on the ground of useless personal danger to an Ibn Shaaldn in Damascus, for Sotamm knows, or should know, that he runs no
off

to

sort of risk there.

It is only sheyklis of individual

eminence who are in any danger.

Later,

Sotamm

himself joined us, and w^e tried our last counsels.

He

listened

very

politely,

and appealed almost

if

pathetically to us to excuse him,

he could not do

144
all

Bcdoidn Tribes of the Eiiphrates.

[en. xxr.

we

wished.
his wife

He

liad

no quarrel with Jeddan

had left him, and the Sebaa have more than his own people in the war but he must wait and see which way the Roala wished At present they wished him to make this to go. journey to Damascus. They could not stay where they were, for the grass was all eaten up, and they
though
suffered
;

must cross the hills to-morrow towards Jerud, while he would go with us straight to the town. He was really pathetic in his lamentation about the manner
in

which he

is

obliged to sacrifice his

own

interests

to the wishes of his people.

He
lie

that they

may grow

rich

must become poor, must find mares and

camels, to satisfy the hunger of the Osmanlis, that

the Roala

may

trade freely with the townspeople

will be ruined.
I I

and
not

felhiliin,

and soon he

have

much

respect for

Sotamm, but

cannot help

and pitying him. He is only weak. "We have had a most sumptuous dinner this evening, and there is singing and dancing going on in our neighbourhood, in honour of some feast of
liking

circumcision.

April 15.

^While

the tents were being pulled

down and
one with

the camels loaded, I had half-an-hour s

first wife,

conversation Avith Ghiowseh, Sotamm's

the

whom

Jedaan's daughter has quarrelled.

Fortunately, everybody but

we two was

busy, so

we

could talk without being interrupted by the

busybodies, w^hich generally surround one in the

women's

tent.

Ghiow^seh

is

pretty, slight

and small

CH. XXI.]

Sotaimn

Domestic Life.

145

and though very nice to me, looked as if she might have a temper of h(.'r own. She has more wits than most Arab women have, and can carry on a conversation further than is usual with them, for they generally come to a dead stop when they have asked how far away my honi(i is, and how many children I have had. Ghiowseh, on the contrary, showed an interest in hearing what I had to say about our travels and the people we had made acquaintance Avith in the desert. She was especially curious about the Shammar women, asking whether they were as pretty as people said, and Avhether they were well dressed and neat and clean. Sotamm is her first cousin, and she rules him with a rod of iron, not suffering any other woman to stay long in his tent. She has got rid of two that I know of, and seems determined to hold her ground, in which she will probably succeed as The child was with her, she is Mansiir's mother.
featured,

and made himself very agreeable, begging his mother not to let me go away but to keep me with I gave him a little whistle, and plaited a bit her. of string for him to hang it by round his neck, and he was much delighted when I showed him how to blow it. He was not like most Arab children,

who

are always clawing at everything they

can reach, and asking for sugar, but was quite Aveli behaved and well mannered. Of course, however,

he was very dirty, all the children being kept so liy The tent at their mothers for fear of the evil eye.

146
last

Bedoiiin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xxi.

to get up, so I said good-bye,

came down almost over our heads, and we had and Ghiowseh pro-

mised the child should not forget me. The last thing loaded by Ibn Shaalan's people was
the
xittfa,

a gigantic

camel howda, used by the

Koala whenever they expect a pitched battle, and then only. It is a huge cage of bamboo covered with ostrich featliers, and probably as old as the
date of their
first

coming from Nejd,

which a

for ostriches

are not found, I believe, north of Jebel

Shammar.
and enShe needs

delul carries the idtfa^ in

girl is placed,

whose

business

it is

to sing during the fight,

courage the combatants by her words.*

battle generally groups itself

to be stout-hearted as well as stout-lunged, for the

round

her, in attack

and defence. The Roala have a superstitious feeling about her defence, and the enemy a corresponding
desire to capture her, for it is a belief that with

the loss of the

iittfa

the Roala tribe would perish.

Formerly, each
these, but

large

Bedouin

tribe

had one of

now, perhaps from a scarcity of ostrich and the difficulty of renewing them, the feathers iitfj'a and the custom attached to it have disappeared, except

among

the Roala and, I believe,

it

the Ibn Haddal.f

To-day

was

carried

empty on

the back of a fine she- camel.

* This
TJttfa figures in the fantastic description of the forty

days' battle given

by Fatalla Sayeghir, and justly

its

ridiculed

by

Mr. Palgrave. t Mr. Palgrave mentions

esat of Jebel

existence

among

the Ajman, a tribe

Shammar.

CH. XXI.]

The Rodla move Camp.

cand

147
for

AVe liave seut our mares

to the
lulls wliicli

donkeys

water

rise

north of the plain, here

where there is a spring of and they have not yet returned, though all the Eoala tents are do\vii and the march begun. Sotamm out of politeness
excellent water,

called " Jebel Euak,"

Bir

Shedeli,

kept his own tent standing to the last, Init now he cannot wait any longer, and has come to wish us good-bye. AVc are to meet him again to-night or to-morrow, but he has to see his tribe across the
liills first,

and

will then join us

on the road, and go

with us to Damascus.
with a few with her
Pasha.
followers,
foal,

I watched

him

riding

away

and four mares, and a delul which he is taking as gifts to the The mares were nothing very remarkable.
all

Now

they are

gone.

It is a

very curious feeling to perceive the plain

its

gradually emptied of
passes up the

inhabitants

(we can

still

watch them streaming by half-a-dozcu different hills), and to find all this tumultuous camp suddenly fallen into silence, and ourselves
alone in the desert.
there
is

Except the trampled pasture,

not a trace of the people

who

are gone, for

the Arabs leave nothing behind them, not even the

scraps of paper one finds in Europe after a pic-nic.

Only two camels, probably of those lately captured and too lame to go further, remain for the next One of them person who likes to appropriate. off and sell at Ghanim is very anxious to drive
Damascus, but
this Wilfrid will not allow.

148

Bcdo7iin Tribes of the Eziphrates.

[ch. xxr.

Evening.

We

did not get

away

till

nearly ten,

and have only

least,

travelled five hours, half of them, at

last night,

through what was the Edala camj)

so that the whole space occujDied

by the

tribe
It

cannot

was not till we got clear of this, that the camels found any grass to eat, and we then let them feed as they went, for they have had little the last twenty-four
have been
less

than twelve miles across.

hours.
hills,

As we followed along
a white
cloud

the foot of the

Euak

gradually appeared over the

it

horizon in front of us and, as

took shape, became

It

transformed into a mountain.

the promised land.

was the snowfirst

covered head of ]\Iount Hermon, our

sight of

Then we knew that Damascus

and not
far
off.

must be

straight l)efore us,

We
the
in a

have stopped under shelter of a ruined khan,

sign of approaching civilization
grass,
;

first

and

there,

bed of thick rich

Avill

we

are spending a

happy

afternoon, having seen our last of

the

Bedouins.

This

be our

last

night in the desert, and

we

volcanic

must make the most of it. There are some curious mounds close by, differing from any we
have hitherto
seen,

outlying specimens, perhaps, of

On
one of them Wilfrid
haS'

the

tells of

the Leja.

shot a hare, and

celebrate

we are to have a feast to-nio-ht to Mohammed's promotion to the rank of

it

brotherhood, with which

has been determined to

and loyal service. We have long debated whether he was worthy of the honour ; for the brotherhood is not a thing to be
for

reward him

his tried fidelity

CH. XXI.]

MohaniiuciTs Choice.

149
all,

lightly undertaken, or undertaken at

except with

men

of a

certain

distinction,

and

jSloliammcd's

position as a

Tudmuri seemed

at first to put

him

altogether out of the category of eligible persons.

It
is,

however, a time-honoured practice, even with

the greatest desert sheykhs, to take the oath with

the

sheykhs of towns, and Mohammed's

Lirtli

as

eldest son

and heir apparent

to the

sheykhdom of

Tudmur
him

has to

be considered, while his descent

from the Beni

altoo'ether
felldhin.

above the

Ldam and the prophet Taleb raise common herd of villao;e

As a final test, and to prove whether he was wholly worthy, ]\Ir. S, had been deputed to-day to tempt him with money, a crucial test indeed with Bedouin and citizen alike in Arabia, and he The choice was had come out of it unscathed. given him whether, in reward of his services, he should be sent home to Tudmur with a handsome Bum in mej idles, or as the friend and brother of the
Beg.

Mohammed

did not hesitate, but emphati-

cally exclaimed, " If the

with white
been

pieces, yet I

Beg were to fill my kefiyeh would hold it as nothing to

So, then,
it

the honour of being his brother."

settled,

has

and the oath taken in our presence,

and

to-night

Mohammed

for

the

first

time will

sit

down and
us, " lei

eat with us

in our

tent.

In taking

the oath, he added to the usual phrases one

akliiv miii

new

to

yomi

"

(" to

the

last of

my

days

").

He

seems duly impressed with the solem-

nity of the occasion.

150

Bcdotiiii

Tribes of

tJic

FAipJirates.

[ch. xxr.

Sotamm
not expect
mascus.

has not

made

his appearance,
till

now

to

meet him,

we

get to

and we do Da-

A'pril 16.

The weather
I

has broken up, but no

matter.

AVe are just at the end of our journey.

saw a fine lunar rainbow, the moon shining against a heavy shower. The whole bow was visible, but the colours were indistinct. Soon after starting, we passed a small outlying
In the night
'

Eoala camp, but without alighting.

Two

of the

horsemen belonging to

it

joined our party and rode

a mile or two with us, but

elder

we

could get no infor-

mation from them, as the younger was shy, and the

had an impediment
imj^ossil^le

in his speech,

which made

him

to

understand.
hills

Then we parted

join the

to the right to company, they passing over main body of Eoala at Jerud, we keeping

straight

towards ]\Iount
it

Sheykh, as
the
first

is called.

cultivated fields

Hcrmon, or Jebel-eshAt ten o'clock we reached and some fine Greek ruins,
not seen for weeks.
It

and, a

little

further on, a })lentiful spring of living

water, such as

we had
if

seemed unnatural,

not impossible to find so

much

water starting out of the ground.

afterwards the village of

Immediately
reached, the

Dumeyr was

furthest outpost of civilization towards the desert.

It is a flourishing place,

surrounded with gardens

and fields of corn. Countrymen with pale faces and wearing turbans appeared, riding donkeys instead of camels, and answering our salutations, in

en. XXI.]

Goodbye

to tJic Dcscii.

wheat sounded to our ears an affected

''

lis]),

with

tlie

AVe were once more withSyrian in the pale of Ottoman law, that half-way house

marahubhay

between desert freedom and the chains of

Lastly,

Euro]ic.

we met

man

in Frankish clothes, with

rings on his fingers and speaking French,

who

told

us he was dragjoman to a hardly

*

forcio-D

Consulate.

AVe

knew with what

*
*
^ve

face to look at him, so bare

and bald and

skimjoily clothed he seemed.

=;;=

*:

The next morning

rode into Damascus.

CHAPTER

XXII.

" Their shape was very singular and deformed, which a little discomposed me, SO that I lay down behind a thicket to observe them better," 4 Voyage to the Jluiii/hnJinms. Swift.

Last Words

The Camel defended Sotamm in town Parewells

of Yahoos.

A party

FEW words now

week
at

will complete

my

story.

We
to

vvere a

Damascus, waiting

for

money
all

cany us liome, for

we had

spent nearly

we

had,

and depended on the

the

sale of our

camels to

make up

sum required. Ferhan and ]\Iohammed between them arranged this admiraljly, and we found ourselves, in a

few days, with a

clear profit of fifteen

on each beast that wc had purchased at Bagdad. Tamarisk, too, was disposed of with but trifling loss, and the other three mares were left
shillings

with Mr.

S. for

embarkation
at

later

on

for

England.

The had

white donkey realised precisely the

cost
us,

sum

she

and well worth It was the money she was to her new purchaser. not till tjuite at the end of the journey, that she had shown signs of fatigue, and then only under the During aggravation of eighteen stone on her back. the whole march she had not tripped once or
16,
starting,

stumbled.

We

shed a tear or two at parting with our

cii.

XXII.]

The Camel Defended.

153
dismiss good

camels, such tears as people shed

who

servants

on reducing

their

establishment.

These

honest animals had done

everything required of

out a word.

them without complaining, T had almost said withIt makes me angry, remembering the
docile affectionate beasts they were, to read such

rubbish as travellers write about the evil disposition

of their race.

certain writer, for instance,

who

ought

to

know

better, devotes a

page or two of his

book on Arabia to an essay on the wickedness of the camel's heart, which to one who has had experience of the real creature, uubrutalised by "hard
blows" and "downright kicks," The camel, whatever derstand.
tainly not ill-tempered,
terrible to
is

strange to un-

his faults, is cer-

and

his roaring is as little

cow.

any but cockney ears as the lowing of a Eoaring is his manner of si>eech, and need

frighten no one.

The

fact

is,

the camel alarmed,

or overloaded, or overworked, appeals in this

for

way

mercy to his owner, and, if the traveller, by the noise, will look under the saddle

annoyed
l)efore

mounting, he will generally find there just cause for

the loud complaints his poor beast makes.
so

young

one unbroken camel roars from terror, wounded by the saddle. Many a time I have been made aware by my camel's voice, or by the mute appeal of his face turned to me and nudging my elbow, that the saddle required re-stuftiug, and
does

more than once that

did not wish to risk a

it

was time

to

dismount

if I

foil.

AYas there ill-temper or

154

Bedouin Tribes of
of sense in this?

the Etiphrates.

[ch.

xxn.

want
liold

Much

as I love horses, I

them on both

these points below the camel.

this,

Let anyone, who doubts

horses on a journey and see
horse, if not restrained

take

camels and
act.

how

each will

The
in a

by

his rider, will begin the

it

day with a frolic, heels in air, and end shambling jog, stumbling and wearied out.

If care-

fully ridden, however, he will last through the day,

and come
turns

in

hungry

at night,

and hunger
at all

is
;

what
so he

the traveller loves best to see in his beast

him

loose to feed.

Not

Bucephalus

has seen a
is

at

rival, and Avith a snort and a scream he him hoof and tooth. The grass may be sweet,
is

but fighting
vene, there

sweeter

and, unless his master interfit

is little

chance of his being

for another

day's journey.

At some

risk he is seized

tethered

we
if

will say to a stout

peg,
loose,

and bound, and before

he will be

morning,

he have not broken

found inextricably entangled in his halter, starving

because he cannot get at the grass, and with the
rug, given

him by

his master, to
roll,

keep him warm,

dislodged by his attempts to the surcingle.

and hanging from

His master comes to feed him, and

upon the ground, and heaps up The horse takes a mouthful, corn before him. turnino; round the while to bite his flank, and Then in another scattering half upon the ground. instant he has pawed the heap into mire beneath
spreads his cloak
his hoofs.

Meanwhile, the

" stupid,

ill-tempered "

camel,

CH. XXII.]

Parczcc/ls.

z
D.->

liusbanding his power,

lias

marelied

all

day, keepino'

at a uniform pace like a trained pedestrian, mile

after mile,

hour after hour

and, the journey ended,

time's value,

he walks
loses not

off to feed.

He knows

and

an

instant, careful only to

keep his fellows

call.

in sight,

and

listening for his master's

At dusk
flash, sees

he stops and, turning his head at a sudden

the
bed.

camp

fire lighted,

He

and knows that it is time for slowly makes his way to camp, kneels

down

of his

own

accord to receive his portion of

beans, or his ball of cotton seed,

without moving
creatures has

till

morning.

and chews the cud Which of these two

sense durino- the

day ? have lost

shown the neater Which the most temper ?

But enough.

my

own.

more solemn Ghanim, Mohammed, and Mr. S., each in his turn, and in his Ghanim was the first to degree, cost us a pang, go. At Damascus he was evidently out of place, and the very first day got into trouble there, and was disarmed by the police of a certain iron mace it had been his pride to carry. This disgusted the boy, and he took the opportunity to leave us, ingratiating himself with his legitimate chieftain; by singing songs There, under to him in honour of the Koala war. the name of Bender (for he thought it becoming, like Abram, on so great an occasioii to change his name), and clothed in a fine abba and kefiyeh, the
After these
to

mute

partings, farewells

had

be made.

Hanna,

Ferhiin,

proceeds of our bakshish, he strutted about the

56

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

xxn.

town

tlie

vain, nnstable, interesting creature he

had

ahvays been
master.

and disappeared
all

at last with his

new

Hanna was made happy with

the

cooking-pots

and pans
service.

to his heart's content, besides receiving

double pay for

months he had been in our

He wept

copiously for the last few days

preceding our departure, and in a perfect torrent of

tears

when

the day itself came.

Ferhaii

was

less

demonstrative, yet every bit as sincere.

He was

the

only one of our servants

his wages,

who asked

for

nothing but

and who took all that was given him over and above, as a gift from heaven. He did not count his money, but affirmed that he would follow us to the world's end, and I believe him. ]\lohammed, as agreed, recived no pay, but was rewarded with the rifle and Avith sundry small articles he had not the strength of mind to help asking for. To the last he remained the same good

humoured
him, and,
I believe

intelligent fellow

now

he has

we had always found become " the Begs brother,"

he would follow our fortunes to the end

of the world.

He

has promised to go with us

next winter to the Jof, where we are to help him

in the choice of a

new

wife from his

own

people,

the Beni Laam, a girl of noble blood, and one worthy

marry a descendant of the prophet Taleb. Abd Rahman, who though not our servant had served us in divers ways during the last fortnight, received a servant's reward. Money, he had learnt by long experience, was a more substantial blessing than
to

er

CH, XXII.]

Sotanuii leaves

Jiis

Alarcs.

157

glory,

and he had laughed, in

his quiet

way, not a

Mohammed's romantic choice. But we remembered that he was but an Ulema of Aleppo, and
little at

the son of a horse dealer, and Ave do not withdraw

our esteem from him on that account.

Sotamm came more than

garden, where

once to visit us in the

at

we were encamped
to sit
tent.

Damascus, aud
at the door

seemed pleased, poor man,

even of our European
in

down
felt

He

that

we were

some sense Bedouins like himself. Each time paler and more dejected, for the Bedouins languish quickly in town air, and at last he suddenly went 1jack to the desert. At the time,

we found him

we

could learn nothing of his interview with the

Valy, for he was always accompanied and closely

watched by an official, and therefore reserved with us, and we, having done our duty in the cause of But we know now peace, pressed him no further. that he went back without his mares to the tril3e, and that the difficulty as to the march of the Eodla
northwards was satisfactorily removed.
Quite lately

news has reached us that Sotamm

and Hama, and that he Government. So I fear
diplomatic mission failed.
is

is

once more in

the old quarters of the Sebaa, the pastures of

Homs

supported there by the

Ave

must consider that our Whether the Sebaa Avill

follow Ave do not
A'ct

down under new raids and

sit

their loss
fio-hts
Avill

of territory, or Avhethcr

know, but

intend perhaps to add a postscript to

my

last chapter,

with

the " latest

news

" of the Desert.

158

Bedo7d]i Tribes of the Euphrates,

it

[ch.

xxu.

Of our journey home

say anything,
for,

will be unnecessary to
arrival at

from the day of our

that
its

Damascus, we
ceased,
delay.

felt

and that the

rest

interest for us had was only an annoying

We

got over our

first

meeting with our

countrymen with as good a face as we could command, but we own it shocked us. We were not prepared for the vast change a winter spent among the Arabs would make in our tastes, our prejudices and our opinions. It was at Beyrout that we met We had found the the first wave of European life. inn there deserted, and had dined in peace, sitting, it is true, at a table instead of on the floor, drinking our water out of glasses, and eating with knives

and

forks instead of with our fingers, but hitherto

there had been nothing to excite our surprise or

shock our

feelings.

on a divan

at the
all

As we were sitting, however, end of the dining-room, drinking

our cofiee in

the solemnity of Asiatic repose, a

sudden noise of voices and loud laughter resounded through the house, and presently the door burst
open, and a tumultuous throng of
clad
ill

men and women

and

trousers

and

coats, or in scanty skirts

jackets, according to their sex, but all with heads

uncovered,

and looking strangely naked, rushed

There

across the floor.

may

have been a dozen of

them

Their faces were flushed and excited, had been drinking wine and they passed as if they in front of us without pause or salute to the upper end of the room, and there, with no further cerein
all.
;

cH. xxii.]

Party of

YaJioos.

c^9

mouy, flimg tliemselves each into his cliair. The dresses, voices, gestures and attitudes of these men

and women struck us as not only the most grotesque, but the most indecorous we had ever seen. The women were decked out in the most tawdry and unseemly manner, and one girl among them had a quantity of golden hair hanging quite loosely

down
shaven

her back.

Some

of

the

men were
said,

close

on the chin, and others wore

as
I

spectacles.

They threw themselves,

have

in

the

grotesquest attitudes into their chairs, and at once

began chaffering with a scoundrel crew of Jew pedlars who had followed them in, and who, while exhibiting their trumpery wares, cast evident eyes of contempt, even they, on the undignified strangers. The conversation, which I am ashamed to repeat,

was conducted partly in English, partly in limjua Franca, and consisted principally of insidts addressed to the pedlars, varied with cajoleries yet
baser and

more

odious.

The

objects chaffered for

were sham Oriental weapons, sham turquoise ornaments and fir-cones from the Lebanon. Wilfrid beckoned a servant, and inquired of him what manner of people these were that had been admitted to the house.
" Cook's tourists,"

we

thought.

"Their manners are proverbial, and perhajjs they have been dining out." " Oh no," replied the

man

" these

travellers

are
last

English milords

of

distinction.

They

arrived

night in a yacht

from Malta."

Yes, these were the "asil" of our

i6o

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates.

I

[cii.

xxir,

own countrymen.
see them.

am

glad

Mohammed

did not

over, and we are once more in no more tangible record of our England, with winter's adventures, and of the friends we made

Our journey

is

in the desert, than Meshiir's pistols

the

chimney-piece of

the

hall,

hung up over and half-a-dozen

Arabian mares grazing in the park outside. Sherifa is one of them, with a pretty bay colt at her heels,
while Hagar seems to enjoy galloping and jumping;

hurdles on Enoiish o-round.

Mohammed's
lies

sura,

liajar,

the stone head from Palmyra,

on a table

among whips and

umbrellas, the nucleus of a col-

lection of antiques,

and

letters

have arrived from

Aleppo announcing the great news of the day, the alliance of Jedaan and Faris. All is finished but the last few serious chapters, with which Wilfrid proposes to end this book for
me.
In them the information

we

picked up during
sa}'^

our travels will be embodied, and, though he

they will probably be

dull, I trust

they

may

not be

Avithout practical value.

CHAPTER
"

XXIII.
been

known

greater part of the earth hath ever hccn peopled than liath or described by geographers." Sir Thomas BHOW^yE.

Geogi-apliy of N'orthern Arabia

Migrations of
villages

its

tribes

Some hints for map-makers.

is

Physical features of the Desert The Euphrates valley Desert

maps
as

Arabia

usually represented on our

being bounded to the north by a curved

the Gulf of Akaba.

line, starting

from the head of the Persian Gulf and endino; at Its vertex is placed by most
This, in the days of

geographers in latitude 34, or a few miles south of

the ancient city of Palmyra.

the

Eoman

empire,

no doubt represented pretty

accurately the limits of fixed authority southwards

towards the Peninsula.

was

at that time guarded,

The line of the Euphrates and a military high road

hills al)0ve

connected the river with the

shuttino; out the

Damascus,
from the

Bedouin

tribes of Arabia

pastures of Mesopotamia and of the upper " Syrian

Desert."

Within the

limits thus traced, settled life

was secure acrainst marauders, and the common law of the empire prevailed. But it is many centuries
real

now

since the

Euphrates ceased to be the

boundary of Arabia, or the high road passing

62

Bedouin Tribes of the Eiiplwates. Palmyra a

barrier to its tribes.

[ch.xxhi.

tlirouoji

It is time,

therefore, that the

imaginary line traced by ancient

geographers should disappear from our maps.

Northern Arabia at the present day embraces

the whole district between Syria and Persia,

and

extends northwards as far as latitude

37^,

the lati-

tude of Orfa and Mardin.

IMesopotamia, Irak, and

the plains north of Palmyra, are

now

in every re-

spect part of Arabia, forming, with the

Hamad, a
its

sin-

gularly homogeneous whole, uniform in

features

physical

and in the race which inhabits it. The Shammar, the Anazeh, and the Montefik tribes are as purely Arabian as their kinsmen of Nejd, and the villagers of the Euphrates and the Jof as those It is probable, indeed, of the Hejaz and Yemen.
that the
o-reat

camel-ownino- tribes of the Northern

Deserts represent the ancient civilization of Arabia

far

more

closely than

do the Mussulman populaare

tion of the south,

and

more nearly connected

in thought and manners with the patriarchs of primaeval history, from whom both claim to

descend.
limits

Be

this as it

may, Arabia has no other

now

than those of the desert.

The
in soil
is

physical features of the desert are those of a

vast plain, or succession of plains and plateaux, so poor

and

so scantily watered, that

no cultivation
irrigation.
all

possible within its hmits except

by

Its surface has at one time been, in

likelihood,
soil is still

the bed of an inland sea, for the surface

composed

in part of a layer of shingle, in part of

cH.xxiii.]

Physical Features of the Desert.

163

a sandy loam covering the substratum of clialk or

con2;lomerate.

Roughly speaking,
tains,

tlie district

is

without mounthe

streams
rivers

or

fresh-water lakes, for

cross
its

two

great

which

north-eastern

angle

neither affect nor are affected

traverse.

by the country they

plain, as
it

They cut through the

were,

and have nothinof in common with The only considerable the desert above them. chain of hills is that which connects Damascus with Mosul, and which, under the successive names of Jebel Ruak, Jebel Amur, Jebel Abd ul Aziz, and
like stranjers,

Jebel
angles

Sinjcir,

forms a continuous line

Euphrates.

at

right

to

the

difference of level in
it,

marks the the plains north and south of

This
line

with a corresponding diversity of vegetation.

Above the hills, permanent sheep pasture is found below them, camel pasture only. It is strange that modern map-makers, and especially the

German, should in
models
feature

their

anxiety to

improve on ancient

have abandoned so
of
hills,
;

marked a natural

as this range

which the older geographers w^ere and it is a poor exchange to find

careful to give

in its stead, the

old blank spaces of the desert filled up with

new

landmarks either wholly imaginary or out of all There is nothing proportion to their real value.

more

irritating

to

the traveller, endeavouring to

make

his

of these

way across the desert by the help of one German maps, than to find a number of
.M

164

Bedouin Tribes of the

EjipJu^ates. [cH.xxnr.

insignificant tells

and wadys figuring on it as hills this for no better purpose than that the map should look more maplike to the

and watercourses,

and

eyes of the engraver.

I

have traced one or two of these improvements

Thus, in 1872, a Prussian lieu-

to their source.

tenant,

Bagdad

crosses the Hamad from Damascus, and, being a conscientious He officer, notes down all that he sees on his way. observes, amongst other things, a certain range of hills (the broken edge, most probably, of a plateau or table-land), and he asks his guide "What is " El berriye," answers the Agheyl, " the that ? " desert," meaning thereby that he sees nothing he

named Thielman,
to

recognises

and

in the next

edition of Kiepert's

mountain chain. In another map, Jebel Rudk figures as a and in a third, Tudmur stands in a single peak valley. The fact is that, with the exception of the Euphrates, which was surveyed by Colonel Chesney forty years ago, no part of Northern Arabia has yet
Atlas, Jehel el Berrie appears as a
;

Hand

been professionally examined.

]\Iap-makers, then,

would do well
vellers,

to

imitate

Mr. Stanford, who, in

default of reliable

information from modern tra-

sticks courageously

by the

old traditions.

His

map looks bare but is one we have found of any

But
to

accm^ate,
use.

and

is

the only

resume

The physical features of the

which wild lavender

desert are those of a plain clothed with aromatic

shrubs, stunted but woody, of

cn.xxiii.]

Summer
The

Qiuirtcrs of the Anazeh.

id

is

good type.

varieties of these are numerous,

is

but their value as pasture

very unequal, some

for sheep,

being excellent for camels, others

and

not a few being absolutely worthless.

soils,

On

the better

too,

after rain

many

kinds of grasses and

flowering plants are found, while in the Northern

j)arts

of Mesopotamia
is

and the Upper "Syrian"

not very different to look at

Desert the country

in spring-time from the great rolling

sliire,

downs

of AVilt-

where these have not been ploughed up. Only

is

the resemblance

superficial, for there is

no perIt
is

manent

turf in

any part of the

desert.

in

these upper plains that the Bedouins congregate in

the spring, shear their flocks, and hold commercial

intercourse with the towns
;

for here,

even during

the extreme heats of summer, sufficient pasture of

one

sort or other is

found for their

cattle.
is

When
and
its

in June the grass " turns white " and

withered,

new

leaves appear on the wild lavender

first

kindred shrubs; and the

autumn

rains bring

back a fresh growth of greener food. Nor is water In seasons of great drought the ever wanting.
Euphrates and Tigris valleys are always open, and then receive the whole population, whose camels
find pasture in the great tamarisk l^eds fringing the
rivers.

With

the

first

frosts

the Anazeh

move
is

south-

wards, and by December not a camel

to be

found
not
will

north of the

hill rano^e.

The reason of

this is

entirely nor directly due to the cold.

Camels

66

BedotLin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[cn.xxnr.

stand a vast amount of hard weather, but as soon

as

the

shrubs lose

their leaves,

not being close

feeders like the sheep, they find no pasture suited

to them,

the shrubs are evergreen.

and wander southwards to latitudes where The tribes, residing all

hills,

the year round north of the

keep only sheep.

The camel-owning Bedouins are perpetually on the move, the Anazeh wandering as far south in winter as to within a few days' march of Jebel Shammar,
which geographers generally place in latitude
28.

They

have, then, an extreme range of some ten

and in exceptional years may travel two thousand miles between November and May. The calving time for camels is in February and early JMarch, when the Anazeh are at the extreme
degrees,

southern limit of their wanderings, so that the milch

animals have the advanta2;e of feedino; on certain

succulent bushes of wdiich the ghurkudd
or, as

Mr-

Palgrave writes
It is a

it,

the gJiada

is

the most esteemed.

thorny tree growing perhajDs five feet high,

with a reddish stem and green fleshy leaves, re-

minding
wood.

one,

by

its

way

of growing, a

little

of dog-

Immediately, however, after the calving has

begun the tribes move again towards the north, travelling from eight to ten miles daily, and keeping pace pretty closely with the growth of the grass, camomile, and other plants their camels love. Their rate of marching never exceeds two miles in the
hour, the pace of the youngest camel.

At

this

time of year,

if

the season

is

a favourable

cir.

xxiii.]

The Hanidd

in Spring.

167

one, the

Hamad

is

one of the most

heautifiil sights

in the world, a vast unduLiting

flowers.

phun

of grass and

The purple stock which predominates on

its

the

better soils gives

colour to the whole country, and

on it the camels feed, preferring it to all other food. The hollows are filled with the richest meadow grass, wild barley, wild oats and wild rye, the haunts of quails, while here and there deep beds of blue
geranium (I)ohattery) take their place, or tracts white with camomiles. On the poorer soils the flowers
are not less gay
;

tulips, marigolds, asters, irises

and
all,

certain pink wallflowers, the most beautiful of

cousins each of

them

to our garden

plants.

For

it

was from the

brought us
tially

desert doubtless that the Crusaders

many

of those

we now

consider essen-

English flowers.

Through

this, as

through a

garden, the vast herds of camels with their attendant

Bedouins move slowly all the spring, and the mares,

starved during eight months of the year, foal and

grow
as

fat

upon a
tlie

certain crisp grass

which grows

amongst
journeys.

purple stock, fine and dry and sweet

sugar.

No

sheep

accompany these southern

Those that belong to the Auazeh are left behind in the upper plains with the Weldi Aghedaat and other tributary tribes, who keep them
till

their

owners return.

Sheep require constant

wells are scarce.
is

watering, and in the

Hamad
is little

As

soon as calving has commenced milk

the camps, and water
the mares,

plentiful in

who

will

go

many

thought of even for days with nothing but

68

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en.

xxm.

this to drink.
places,
less

There are however wells in certain

and

in others pools of rain water

more or

abundant according to the season.

is

Their posi-

tion

of April the sun begins to

By the middle show its power, the pools are exhausted, the grass has grown yellow and shed its seed, and all this wealth of pasture disap2)ears. Then the trilies cross the hills, rejoin their flocks and enter into treaties with the towns. Shearing jjegins in May, and the three year old colts and camels find purchasers, and the year goes round
well kno^^^.l to the tribes.
again.

Such

is

the physical aspect of the desert.

There

remains to be described that of the two great rivers

and which introduce two new features strange to Arabia, running water and trees.'" The valleys are so nearly similar that a description of one, the Euphrates, will suffice for both. The
which traverse
it,

Euphrates when
is

it

appears at the edge of the desert

already a

at

grown river, as large as the Danube Belgrade, and flowing at the rate of four and
full

a half miles an hour.

Its

waters are turbid, but

sweet and

pure as the

water of the Nile.

Like the

Nile too they have a certain fertilising quality in

* To say that trees are strange to Arabia
accurate, for the acacia
is

not perhaps quite

and the "betun" are found, there in the wild state, and the date palm of course is numerous "wherever there But they are suffiicently rare for the is or has been a village. generic word sejjereh to be almost always understood of fruit trees. A tree in common parlance, unless further explained, means a palm tree or a fig, an apricot or a pomegranate tree.

cH. xxin.]

The E7iphrates

J'^alley.

169

irrigation, superior to that of

most

rivers,

and leave
passed.

a deposit of good

mould where they have

till

In early times and

years
the
agricultural

Avithiu the last five

hundred
a
rich

Upper Euphrates Valley was

district,

supporting

its

rural

popula-

tion as well as the commercial inhabitants of its

numerous wealthy towns. For two centuries however no pLjugh, it may almost be said, has turned a. furrow on its shores. The fields have lain fallow, and have been pastured by the Bedouins, and the
lower lands within reach of the annual inundation

have become one large jungle of tamarisk.

Further down, the river changes
valley grows narrow,
its

aspect, the
trees take

and groves of palm

Here
sites

the place of tamarisk beds, while the desert comes

down

to the very water's edge.

villages are

found, reduced no doubt from their ancient importance, but

still
:

occuppng the

they held in

Biblical days

Uz, the city where Job dwelt, Hitt and Jebbeli the home of the Hittites and Jebusites, and others perhaps less easy to recognise, but of
as great antiquity.

Hitherto, the river has cut

its

way

as

if

by violence
itself

through the surrounding

a valley which
it

country,

flowing through

has

scooped out for

feet
little

below the level

two hundred or three hundred of the plain, and having as

it

natural connection with

ao-ricultural district in

as a railway traversIt receives

incr

an

Enoland.

nothing from
tributaries,

the neighbouring lands in the

it

nor does

give anything out of

way of its own

70

Bedouin Tribes of
Its

tJie

Euphrates,
life is

[(.u.

xxm.
of

valley in irrigation.
tlie

way

of

not

tliat

desert. It carries with it its own vegetation, own birds, and its own beasts. If the gazelle creeps down to drink at its waters in summer it
its
is

by

night,

and she soon leaves the

it

valley.

The

sandgroiise fly over

but hardly stop, and only

the

little

desert partridge seems

common

to both

sides

of

the

and
its

Avolves

cliff. On the other hand its lions and jackals rarely leave the valley, and

wild boars keep close within the tamarisk beds.

Its birds are those of

Europe or of Asia Minor, the

partridge, the francolin, the magpie, ducks; geese,

snipes, woodcocks.

All these abound l^y the river,

but

are

never

found

even a

mile

beyond

its

precincts.

more than the usual differences which varied occupation gives, between the men of the valley and the men of the desert. These last
Lastly, there is

rarely descend to the

river except in the seasons

crossinoit

of orreat drouoht, or

when bent on
is

to

make
than

a foray on the opposite shore.

The pasturage

of the upper plain

is

better suited to their camels

that of the richer valley,

and during great

part of the year, though they arc encamped within

easy reach of
there.

it, the river is to them as if it was not There are hundreds of the Anazeli who have

never seen the Euphrates.

fellah tribes,

On

the other hand the

vith their horned cattle

and

their

attempts at cultivation, stick closely to the valley,

while the citizens even of such purely desert towns

cii.

XXIII.]

Desert Villages.
terror

as

and almost under their breath of the Choi. The Euphrates was so accurately surveyed by Colonel Chesney, that nothing is wanted by the modern traveller beyond a revision of the names of places. These, if they were ever correctly given, have now nearly all been altered, and since the

Deyr and Ana speak with

Turkish occupation of the valley

portance,

new

places of im-

military or otherwise, have

sprung up

requiring notice on the map.

far less

The

Tigris survey is

accurate,

but

for

that Colonel

Chesney
miles

was not
is

responsible, while his

entirely useless.

He

places

map of Tudmur

the desert
fifty

south, and El
positions.

Haddr

thirty miles west of their real

Except on the

line

of the two rivers Northern

Arabia possesses nothing which can be called a town,

and only a few

villages

which are in

fact oases.
;

In
in

the south these are surrounded by palmgroves

the north by gardens or open fields of corn, whose

acreage

dependent exactly on the amount of water Those described by Mr. apphcable to irrigation.
is

Palgrave as existing in the Jof seem to be fairly

flourishing,
w^e

but further north there

is

nothing

till

come

to the line of hills dividing the upper from

the lower plains.

Along the

foot of these a few

miserable villages are scattered, occupying the site

to a hundred acres of irrio-able land.

each one of a scanty spring, and owning from fifty These are

usually surrounded

by a mud

wall,

pierced with

172

Bcdoiiiu

Tribes of the Btiphrates.iQw.-s.^iu.

l^uilt

a single gateway, and the houses inside

of

equally

mud

are

low and

flat roofed.

They may contain

populations of from two hundred to five hundred

persons each, and are the most wretched places that

can well be conceived.

desert village
is

The neio^hbourhood

of a

always bare and pastureless, having'

principal of these are

been trodden down and grazed over mercilessly for

Karyeteyn and Tudmur, west of the Euphrates, and the Sin jar villao-es east of it. I have marked their positions on my map as Stanford gives them, for fairly accurate. The Upper his geography is
generations.

The

Desert with the

hills

contains in

all

about a dozen

of these small places,

and the Sinjar country as

is

many On

more.
the rivers there

the same diversity of ap-

pearance between the villages of the north and those

of the south.

The

latter

surrounded with

date-

palms have a prosperous, the former drag on a miserThe reason of this may be found able existence.
in the fact that the
feres

Bedouin seldom or never

inter-

with date cultivation.

is it

palm groves
not grudge

unsuitable for

The land occupied by pasturage, and he does

open
fields

to its owners, whereas the

of wheat and barley are a continual temptation for

his flocks.

Thus

it is

that while

Ana and

the palm

villages

have only suflered from

loss of trade, the

towns of the Upper Euphrates have been utterly North of latitude 34 the rich valley of theruined.
Euphrates can boast

no more than half-a-dozen

cu. XXIII.]

Palm

Villages of the Eitpln-atcs.

villages * maintaining a sort of deatli in

is

life,

and

it

only witliin the last few years that a little cultivation has been once more attempted under Turkish

protection,

Deyr, the only remaining village at the

its

date of the Turkish occupation in 1862, owed

-existence to the position of its cornfields

on an island
riverine
I have known.

protected by the river.

villages

Of Bussra and the

I will

below Bagdad

say nothing, as

not visited them.

They

are besides well

The holy cities

el

flourishing places,

and Meshid Ali are fairly and the right bank of tlie Sliatt Arab, occupied by the Montefik tribe has been
of Kerbela

described to
valley.

me

as the best cultivated region of the

There are also a few small oases west whole of the Euphrates, the chief of which, Kubeza and
Shedadi,
Bedouins.
are

markets

much

frequented

by the

As regards our own

able to add
little

travels, I fear

we have been
knowledge
city

to the general stock of

on geographical matters.
of El Haddr, although

The ancient Greek

little

known

to Europeans,

has already been described by ]Mr. Ainsworth who .saw it about 1840, and it has since been visited more

than once by
English

j\Ir.

Layard, and by at least one other

across Mesopotamia I and the Sneyzele and Ominuthsiabeh lakes will now be marked for the first time on any map. We have ascertained too that
traveller.

Our route
one,

believe to be a

new

* I do not of course mean here to include in the term " Upper

Euphrates" any part of the river beyond the

limits of the desert.

74

Bedotim Tribes of the Euphrates,

no branch of
tlie

[ch.

xxnr.

tliere is

Kliabiir called the Sinjar,

all.

nor indeed any such branch at

disappear from the maps.

So that should

The southern waters from the Sinjar hills terminate all in the Subkhas or salt lakes. In the Hamad, beyond fixing the
position

of

the

Jebel

Ghorab, which

see

on
line

Kiepert's
position,

map

seventy miles south west of

its

actual

and ascertaining the existence of a

by rain each Avinter between the Ghota, near Damascus and the Euphrates we have done nothing of any value. The routes between Palmyra and Damascus are too wellof fresh-water pools supplied

known to need other remark than that the Jebel Euak is no separate peak, as some make out, but a name o;iven to the southernmost ridg;e of the main
and that the plain of Saighal contains I have marked, however, the position of certain springs and wells for the use of future travellers. I fear none of this will allow
hills,

chain of

a large fresh-water lake.

us to claim a R. G.

S.'s

medal.

CHAPTER XXIV.
Desert History

The Shammar and Anazeh invasions Destruction of civilisation in the Euphrates Valley Eeconquest b}-- the Turks Their present position in Arabia List of the Bedouin Tribes An account of the Sabteans.

The modern
country by the

liistoiy of

Northern Arabia

may

be

considered as commencing with the conquest of that

Shammar Bedouins

of Nejd, under
ago.

their leader Faris, about

two hundred years

Until that time the Ottoman Empire, inheriting

the traditions of
its

predecessors

Eoman, Greek,
its

Saracen and Tartar, had maintained

frontier at the line of the Euphrates

southern

tary highroad connecting

and the miliBagdad with Damascus,

were

Within

this limit, the inhabitants of the desert

the Sultan's subjects, and the

common law

of the

Empire

prevailed.

Mesopotamia and the Upper

of the first

Syrian Desert were at that time inhabited by various

shepherd

tribes,

some of them Arabs

invasion under the Caliph Omar, others of Kurdish

pushed forward hj the counter invasions from the north in the 13 th and 14th centuries, and one of mixed race, the Moali, which owes it existorigin,

ence according to tradition to the following curious

accident.

1/6

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xxiv.

In the days of the Damascus Caliphate, a certain

son of the Caliph was sent on an embassy to the
court of Justinian the second at Constantinople, and
attracted there the notice of the

Empress Theodora,

who honoured him with her that, when he left her court,

affection to the extent

she determined to give

him an independent position in his own country. She sent him away therefore with substantial presents and a large number of male and female slaves, enablino; him to found the tribe which has been ever As since known as the ]\Ioali or 'property tribe.
evidence of the truth of this story,
the Bedouins of pure race look
it is

certain that

down on

the rank

and

file

of the Moali, while they hold in high honour

its

the family of

sheykhs, giving

them the

title

of

Beg, otherwise

unknown

in the desert.'"'

These Modli occupied the

right

bank of the

Euphrates, and the Tai, a pure Arab race, the upper

plains of Mesopotamia, while, subject to them, were

the Weldi, the Aghedaat, the Jiburi, and the dadin,

Had-

whose descendants

still

exist

in

reduced

circumstances along the valleys of the Euphrates

and

Tigris.

The

valleys themselves, though already

by the Tartar and Ottoman conquests, were still agricultural districts, and througli them the trade with India passed. Benjamin of
partially ruined

Tudela, our only authority as to their condition in

the

Middle Ages, describes them as

containing
tlie

* Niebulir gives El Bushir as the family name of

Modli

Sheykhs.

cii.

XXIV.]

The Shammar Invasion.

77

numerous flourishing towns, of whicli Jilber and Ealiaba on the Euphrates alone, had in his day a
population, besides their other inhabitants, of four

thousand Jews, while Tudmur had two thousand, El Haddr, fifteen thousand, and Okbera on tlie
Tigris,

ten thousand.

Most of these

cities

ha^-c

now

entirely disappeared.

What
it

their exact con-

dition

may

have been

five centuries later

we have

no record
conquest.
centur}^

to inform us, but

seems certain that

their final overthrow dates only from the

Shammar
1

This occurred in the middle of the

7th

Almost exactly two hundred years

ago, Sultan

Mahomet

IV. beino^ then eno-ao-ed with the siege of

Vienna, the southern frontier of his empire was over-

run by these Bedouins, who had already marched up

from the Nejd and occupied the Hamad. They found the frontier unguarded, took and destro3'ed the city of Tudmur, and Ijroke up the line of its desert communications with Bagdad and Damascus. They then crossed the hills, defeated the Modli, the most
warlike of the tribes of the Upper Desert, and
re-

duced the

lesser ones to submission.

The valley

of

the Euphrates Avas next swept clear by them, and the

towns made tributary to themselves instead of to

The last vestiges of cultivation disappeared from the right bank of the river, and Bedouin law became supreme as far north as Bir esli Sheykh. During tAventy years, however, so the Arabs say, the Moali carried on the war for their
the Sultan.

1/8

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en.

xxiv.

pasturage and, though ultimately ruined, managed

at one time to gain considerable advantages.

On

the pretext of a conference they inveigled the

Sham-

mar

chiefs to their tents,

and while they were eating

slew them there. This great crime is still remembered throughout the desert in the saying " Beyt el

Modli

heyt el A-ib."

{"

The

tent of the Moali

is

the

tent of shame.")
Nevertheless, at the

end of twenty years the

complete, and the Moali

Shammar

conquest was
last

were reduced to the

extremity

but then a

new

invader appeared upon the scene, and at once turned

the fortune of the war.

This was the Anazeh,

another tribe of the Nejd, who, hearing the report of

the rich pastures acquired by their predecessors, had

come

to share in the spoils. The Moali sided at once with the new comers, and together they drove the

Shammar

across the Euphrates.

These, finding in

Mesopotamia a still richer land before them than what they had lost, abandoned the " Syrian " desert to the Anazeh, subdued the Tai, and eventually crossing the Tigris carried their raids to Mosul and the Persian frontier. The towns on the Tigris were treated as those on the Euphrates had been, and even Bagdad itself was threatened.
It is strange that

during the progress of these start-

Ottoman Government seems to have looked on in apathy, and made no effort to control the invaders. The Pashas of Mosul and Bagdad
ling events the

contented themselves with mendino; the

w^alls

of

<ir.

XXIV.]

The Anazeh Invasion.

and waiting patiently
for events.

79

their cities

commerce

of the desert ceased entirely,

The and caravans,

abandoning the old direct routes, now followed the long road which passes outside tlie desert through

Mardin and Orfa, and did so in fear and tremljliug. Meanwhile the Montefik, and the Beni Laam, had occupied Irak; and the Avhole country between Syria and Persia, a few isolated towns excepted, became a portion of independent Arabia. This state
of things continued unchanged

down

to our

own

day.

The fortunes of the Bedouin

changing in the
desert.

tribes are continually

A
may

succession of lucky

breeding seasons for their camels brings wealth, and

the courage or Avisdom of a Sheykh importance to

and another But the general superiority of the Shammar and Anazeh over the minor tribes has never been called in questribe, so that

one year

it

be

this,

that tribe which appears in the ascendant.

tion since they

first

appeared in Northern Arabia.

The Anazeh have it all their own way in the Hamad, and as far north as Aleppo, and the Shammar are supreme in Mesopotamia. The war which began between them so long ago has gone on ever
since,

not always actively,

;

for

there

have been

made between them, and raids of Anazeh into the Shammar country, and of Shammar into the Anazeh may be counted on with as much certainty every summer
seasons of truce

but peace has never been

as the appearance of swallows in

]\Iay.

Both

tribes

i8o

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

xxiv,

as far as one can guess their history, have

had their

ups and downs.

The Shamniar have been strong enough within the memory of people yet living to threaten Bagdad with sack and if any credence
;

can be placed in
ago.
like
It is of

''

Fatalla's " recital,

Ibn Shaalan of

the Eoala Anazeh invaded Persia not seventy years

course impossible to give anything

an account of their fortunes and downfalls. The Anazeh have long ceased to be a united tribe, if they ever were one, and this has saved the Shammar,
Still,

who

are far less numerous,

from destruction.

against the latter, as

on the whole, fortune seems to have been may be guessed from the inthey

feriority of the horses

now

possess, nothing in
Avar as

desert

life

so clearly proving

good fortune in

the presence of a large

number

of fine mares in the

camp of a tribe. With regard to

the

Anazeh conquest,
the
first

it is

certain
in the

that only a portion of the tribes

now found

Upper Desert accompanied

far as I

invasion.

As

can learn, the earliest invaders Avere the

Fedaan and the Hesenneh, then, and till quite recently the most important, if not the most numerous, The Ibn Haddal, Sebda and Welled of the tribes. Ali came next. Then at a long interval the Rod] a,
AAdio

appeared for the

first

time in the latitude of

Damascus about the end of last century, Avhile the Towf and Erfuddi only left Nejd so lately as tAventy
years ago.

Such, according to tradition, has been the history

CH. XXIV.]

RcconqtLest of the Euphrates.

of Northern Arabia for nearly two hundred years. new era, however, has now quite recently been-

begun and within the last sixteen years the Turkish Government has recovered a part, at least, of the
;

territory lost so long to the Empire.

In 18G2, the

heyday of reform and activity in Turkey, when, after the Crimean war, ended some time before, the
Porte found
itself in possession of

a large

army and

plenty of money,
troops marched

Omar

Pasha, then

Governor of

Aleppo, at the head of a considerable number of

down

the valley of the Euphrates

and took military possession of Jaber and Deyr, the

only two inhabited villages then existing on the

Upper Euphrates. Deyr was at that time inhabited by certain fellahin Arabs, partly descended from the original founders of the town in the days of the
caliphate,* partly recruited from

Mosul and

Orfa,

who, having long

enjoyed

a semi-independence

under Anazeh protection, resented the interference But of the Turks, and defended their town stoutly.

Omar Pasha had brought

sistance he

artillery

with him, and

all

took the place by storm, and this was

the rein

met

with.

garrison

was placed

Deyr, and guard-houses were built at intervals between it and Aleppo. Deyr became a Pashalic under the Valy of Aleppo, and the Upper Valley of the Euphrates was declared to be once more 2)art of the Empire. The Anazeh seem to have contented
* Deyr mu?t be older than the Mussulman era, for signifying " convent," jioints to a Christian origin.
its

name,

82

Bedotiin Tribes of the Enphrates. [m.

xxiv,

themselves with

plundering

the

caravans

which

now

beojan to pass

down

the valley, and without an

effort

abandoned

their claims

on the towns.

The

policy so successfully begun

was completed a few

years later by Midhat Pasha while governor of Bag-

houses

was he who continued the line of guardEumddy, and made of Ana for Bagdad what Deyr has become for Aleppo, the
dad.
It

as far as

head-quarters of a detached military force in possession of

the

Euphrates route.

Caravans have
less security

since that time passed in

more or

down

the valley.

At

the same time possession was taken

Tio;ris.

of the few towns existins^ on the

Great

efforts

have been made since then to ensoil,

courage the small tribes to cultivate the

and

south of Bag;dad with a certain amount of success.

Protection
is

now given
;

to the Delim,

Shammartoga,

and Albu Mohammed to irrigate the river l^anks and grow wheat and I have heard, though I cannot vouch for it as an eye-witness, tliat the Montefik, a large and powerful Bedouin tribe occupying Irak, have recently become industrious fellahin. Ferhd,n, too, Sheykh of the Shammar, has been honoured Avith the title of Pasha by the Government, and for a yearly stipend of 3000, has engaged to transform his own Bedouins in like manner into honest At Bagdad we heard flourishing reports peasants.
of
tlie

success of this arrangement, but on exami-

nation found them to be based on the meao-erest of

facts.

Ferhan,

it is

true,

had

collected a few hun-

11.

XXIV.]

Asian Pashas Scheme.

18

clred

Arabs at Shcrghat, some of them Shammar,

but the great majority outcasts from the .liburi, and other low tribes of the Tigris, and with them

some two years past made pretence of cultivating the valley. But pretence it merely Avas, for during the whole of our journey among the Shammar we saw nothing like cultivation, even in the
for

had

neighbourhood of Ferhdn's camp.

A still less successful scheme has been that of inducing the Anazeh themselves to become peaceful
subjects of the Porte.

With

this

view Asian Pasha,

during his term of

office at

Deyr, marched a large

body of troops against a section of the Sebiia, whom he found encamped in the valley of the Euphrates, and, having surrounded them, announced that it wns the will of the Sultan that they should give up their nomadic life and pursue a more loyal mode of existThe Bedouins, to ence, as cultivators of the soil. whom nothing could be more distasteful, or indeed
insulting, than such a proposal, at first demurred,

but

findinof

themselves threatened with the loss of

their camels,

and having no option given them by the Pasha, at last consented and, under the soldiers' superintendence, constructed long rows of mudhouses in various parts of the
pretence of living, and
valley.

In these,
to

to their unutterable disgust, they

had

make

did so as long as the soldiers

kept guard over them, a matter of three months, when, finding his men wanted elsewhere, the Pasha
at last

withdrew them, and the Bedouins without

84

Bedouin Tribes of
tlie desert.

the Euphrates,

[en. xxiv.

delav returned to
villages

Several of these
tlie valley, roofless

mud
and
ex-

may

still

be seen in

tenantless,

the only result

of Asian Pasha's

periment.

There are many, however, who are of opinion that

in time the Porte will succeed in its efforts,

and

without doubt

it

would be a great advantage for the

some hold could be gained over the Anazeh and Shammar which should bring them within the power of the law, for as long as they have no fixed abodes the Government, even supjDorted by the most powerful army, can neither levy tribute on them nor enforce its decrees against them. It is only now and then that the Bedouins allow themselves to be surprised, as the Sebda were by Asian Pasha. They are usually well informed of all that happens or is going to happen in the towns and, on news of any expedition moving Once in tlie in their direction, hastily decamp. desert, no troops in the world could control them. Scattering into small groups, their track becomes
security of the country if

speedily lost in the waterless inhospitable plains.

With
are

the small tribes

it

is

easy to deal.

They

nomadic only to the extent of moving about with their tents and their sheep a few miles further

up
far

or further

down

the valleys, but they never go

from the rivers. They are already aware of some of the advantages of living under settled authority, Turkish though it l>e, and now that they are
against

secured

systematic

molestation

from the

CH. XXIV.]

The

Indtistriotts

Tribes.

185

desert they are beginning to plougli and

sow

corn.

They
leave

cling,

however,

all

of them, to their Hocks

is

and

herds, and as long as this

the case

it is

better to

them
live

in their tents than to try

and make

them

in houses.
life

Nothing

is

more wretched

than a pastoral

in fixed dwellings. of the tribes are those which,

The most prosperous

while remaining purely nomadic, have either never

been or have ceased to be troublesome to their neighbours. I have generally remarked that, whereever cattle and buffaloes are found, there the tribes

and flourishing. The Jiburi on the Tigris, and the Subbkha on the Euphrates, are good types of an honest, industrious, but purely pastoral race, living w^ith their cattle all the year round in
are peaceable

the same

and making as good subjects as a Sultan need have. The Haddadin too are an excellent example of what pure nomades may be. These keep only sheep, with the exception of a few camels for
district,

transport duty, and have a just reputation in the

and good manners. The citizens of Aleppo and Mosul entrust their sheep every winter to them and seem contented with the arrangement. The Haddadin are the most prosperous
desert for honesty
tribe

we

visited.

The Weldi,

further west, have a

similar reputation for honesty, but, owing to

some bad

years lately and the extreme exactions of the Aleppo Government, they have been much impoverished.

With proper encouragement and

light taxation,

the northern desert might maintain a large and

86

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

It

[ch. xxiv.

wealthy pastoral population.

for

any other. Indeed I an economical mistake to encourao;;e the cultivation of all the lands which could possibly produce a crop* For full use to be made of the desert all the year round, some reliable pastures should be reserved for seasons of drought and for the extreme heat of summer.
I believe the

was never intended doubt if it would not be

occupation of these in Algeria

by European farmers has not been on the whole an

advantage to the colonial revenue.
Arabia
not to force

What

should

be the aim of a wise government in Northern

is,

its

nomades

to settle

down

as

villagers,

but to encourage the warlike tribes to give

up their wars. This can only be done by showing them the advantages of peace, and giving security
to
all

who do not wish

to fight.

Rich people,

Bedouins or others, have

little

temptation to highthe Turkish Governgreater

way robbery.'"' At the present moment then

ment again holds the Euphrates and the

southwards from Bagdad.

part of the Tigris valleys, with the plain of Irak

It also has got possession
itself.

of certain isolated points in the desert

TudaU the

mur

has been occupied and

is

now
is

administered by

a Turkish Mudir, and tribute

levied on

small towns and villages of the Jebel

Sinjar.

Amur and
pass with

Caravans under escort can

now

* The French have succeeded as admirably by such a policy in. the Sahara as they have failed lamentably in their agricultural schemes for Algeria.

cii.

XXIV.]

Tabic of Population.
safety

1S7

tolerable

from Aleppo to Bagdad by the

Euphrates road, and from Damascus to Deyr. But except along these lines the Bedouins still hold their own, and, although our safe passage through
then- territory has proved, that travelling in

Mesoso

potamia, even without escort,

is

not so impossible as

many

suppose, yet a party of

Bagdad merchants
l;)een

journeying would hardly have

pass unmolested.
still

permitted to
of travellers

The vast majority

prefer the roundabout but securer route through

Mosul.'"'

Diarbekr and

As

to the comparative
I

numbers

of the

Shammar
take
it

and the Anazeh,

have always heard the same pro;

portion given, three to seven

I therefore

to

be correct, though the actual figures mentioned by

my

informants have ranged from thousands to tens

of thousands.

With the numbers themselves

all

it

is

more
think

difficult to deal.

But, keeping the proportion

exaggerations, I
five

above given, and allowing for

twelve thousand or twelve thousand

to tJiirty thousand

hundred Shammar
will not

Anazeh

tents

be very

far

from the

truth.
fifty

This, at four

persons to a tent, would give

thousand to one
in
all.

hundred and twenty thousand souls

The
given

followinor o

is

a table of the

Shammar

tribes as

me by

a committee of Arabs, Bedouin and

I write the following news reaches me : " Aleppo Both banks of the Euphrates are unsafe. A caravan July was robbed of 3000 the other day near Mieddin."
* "While

30.

88

Bedotmi Tribes of

the Euphrates,

[ch. xxiv.

Fellahin, at Sliergliat,

and revised by Faris him-

self:
SJiammar Tribes of Jlesopofamia, all jDure Bedouins, owning camels and mares, and carrying the lance. They acknowledge
the authority of one supreme Sheykh,

who

is

also

Sheykh of

the Jerba, and

is

descended from their chieftain, Faris,

who

led

them from the Nejd in the 17th century. Their present chief is Ferhan ibn Sftik but a portion of the tribe, perhaps one fourth, has seceded from Ferhan, and lives under the rule of his brother Faris. The Shammar of Mesopotamia are a branch of the Shammar of Jebel Shammar, and still preserve relations of consanguinity with these. They migrate north and south
;

according to the season, but do not go further south in winter

than

the latitude

of

Ana.

They

exact

tribute

from

the

smaller tribes of Mesopotamia, and are independent of Turkish

authority

Jerba

...

en. XXIV.]

Shamniar

Tribes.

189

Allies

and

Tributaries of the Shamniar, independent, for the

:

most
1.

part, of Turkish authority

TKNT.S.

Zoba, a Bedouin

owning camels and mares, and carrying the lance. They occupy Southei-n Mesopotamia as far as the junction of the rivers.
tribe,

Their present Hhcykh

2. Haildadin, a pastoral

is

Zahir
;

el

Hamoud
They

...

.0000

tribe

rich, peaceable,

and
are

honest,

owning few camels or mares.

entrusted by the fellahin

of Mosul, Orfa

and

Aleppo with sheep

Sinjar

to pasture during the winter.

They occupy Upper Mesopotamia, north

hills.

of the

Their Sheykh

is

of the family of

IbnWm-shan
3.

2000
tril)e,

Tai, a pure Bedouin

in

formerly very powerful

Upper Mesopotamia, and allied to the Tai of They o\vn camels and mares, and carry the lance but are peaceable and rich. They have numerous flocks of sheep. Their present Sheykh, Abd er Rahman, is considered
Central Arabia.
;

of very nol^le family

4.

...

...

...

...

1 000

Ghess, or Jess, a warlike tribe, but not of pure

Ai-ab blood.

They own camels and mares, and

;

carry the lance

west of Mesopotamia.

occupying the extreme northTheir Sheykh's name,

Abdullah
5.

lOOU
a small semi-Bedouin tribe, occupyJcIk'I

Alhu Hamid,
Sinjar.

ing the countiy between Jebel Hamrin and

Their Sheykh, Feriian

'

looO

6. Jibiiri,

a rich fellahin tribe, owning no camels or

mares, and for the most part unarmed.

They

occupy the Tigris above Tekrit, and the Kluibur, where they pastm-e large herds of buffaloes and
cattle.

They are hospitable take money for what they give

to

strangers, Ijut
1 <

>"(

7.

Ajiiari,Q, smaller tribe, resembling the Jibm-i

...

1000

90

Bedouin Tribes of

the Euphrates,

[ch. xxiv.

TENTS.
8. Jcrtfa,

a pastoral tribe

on the Euphrates, near

...

E,owa, in part fellahin

9.

...

...

...

Buggura,

like the Jerifa,

but further north

...

500 800

The followiDg
North
to South.

is

list

of the

Anazeh

tribes in

the geographical order of their

summer

quarters from

Anazeh Tribes of Nortiiem Arahia, all of them pure Bedouins, owning camels and mares, and carrymg the lance. They exact tribute from the small tribes west of the Euplirates, and are independent of Turkish authority. They omti no supreme Sheykh, and are often at war mth each other. Their range is
from Aleppo in the north,
1.

to Jebel

Shammar

in the south.

Feddan, the most warlike tribe of the desert; a

rough, nncivilized people, owning few camels

and few breeding-mares, and depending

mainly upon plunder.
the

for these

They
each

are divided into

following
:

sections,

under

its

own
TENTS.

Sheykli

Melied.

Sheykh, Jedaan

1000
1000

Shmeyldt
Ajajera
Kltrgssa.

1000
Naif ibn Keshish

1000

N. B. There arc two families of the Fedaan, Ibn Sbeni and Abu Snun, who are rich, and possess many mares. They take no part in the wars of their tribe, paying instead a tax to
the tribe.
2.

SeMa.
last

Wealthy

in camels

and mares, of which

they possess by far the best in Arabia.

;

They
and

are a Avell-bred, courteous people

hospitable

honest.

They

fight only in self-defence.

They

en. XXIV.]

Aiiazch Tribes.
divided into
the
following-

191
sections,
:

arc

cacli

under command of its own Sheykh

GomUbssa.

TBNTS.

Beteyen ibn Mcrshid

... ...

... ...
...

1000
-,00
;,()()

Remlliii

Abadiit

...

...

Dvcim
Menekha.

...

...

...

r00

Ibn Kardiish

500 500 500

is

Modyuja.

Ferhan ibn Hedeb

...

Ammamt ...
N. B.

The Mmah, Sheykh

jMohammed,

a section of the

Eesallin.
TENTS.
3.

Ihn Hdddal, a numerous and po^vcrful tribe, whose Sheykh, Abd ul Mekhsin ibn Heniasdi, is considered the noblest in point of blood of any in

the desert {Ibn Meziad of the Hesenneh only

4.

They are rich and powerful and numerous mares Hesenneh. Once the leading tribe of the Anazeh, but destroyed by a combination against them about sixty years ago of the Sebaa and the Roala.
excepted).*
possess

4000

The

family of their Sheykh, Faris ibn Meziad,

is

accounted the noblest in point of blood of any

in the desert.

The

tribe

now

lives

under Turkish

protection near Damascus, and

5.

number perhaps

500

Roala, or Jeldas.

The most numerous, wealthiest, and most powerful tribe of the Anazeh. Though the whole tribe is generally known as the Rodla, this name only properly applies to a single section. The family of their Sheykh, Sotamm ibn
Shaalan, is the most important, tliough not the most ancient, in the desert. In it the slieykhdom

* The Ibn Haddal and the Sebaa according

originally part of one

to

Burckhardt wore

same

tribe called the Bishar,

whence pro-

bably the name Jebel Bishari below Deyr.

192

Bedotnn Tribes of the Ettphratcs.

[ch. xxiv.

TENTS.

of the Jelaas

is

hereditary.

The

Jelaas at the

j)resent time possess

but few mares, as they have

150,000 camels.

partly abandoned the use of the lance for that of

fire-arms.

They

o^ni

The

Jelaas

came from Xejd about seventy years ago,*

and still preserve close relations with Jebel Shammar, where they still occasionally return in winter. They are now at war with the rest of
the
6.

Anazeh

12000

Welled AIL
of the same

An

ancient tribe allied with others

in Central Arabia,

name

and with
lately

the Ouled Ali of "Western Egypt.

They have
had
for

many

camels and mares

and until

charge of the pilgrim

caraA'ans

starting

Mecca.

Their Sheykh,

Mohammed

Diikhi ibn
...

Smeyr, holds a high position in the desert

7. Sirhdii, a tribe of the

3000

lower

Hamad, which
...

rarely

comes north. and are httle

They have,
knoAvii
...

I believe, few mares,

...

...

8 and

9.

Erfnddi, Sheykh, Eeja, and Toicf, only seen

in the Northern Desert within the last twelve years

;

little

known
and

...

...

...

...

Allies

Tributaries of the Anazeh.

tribe,

Modli, formerly a powerful and warlike

not of
of

pure Arab blood, though the

held in high repute.

family

the
is
;

Sheykhs, descended from one of the caliphs,

Predatory and um-eliable

but ancient
Weldi
;

allies

of the Fedaan and Sebaa

;

...

1000

honest shepherds, like the Haddadin

;

have

a few good mares, no camels

if

defend themselves
...

attacked
*

a respectable tribe

...

...

1000

Compare Burckhardt,

Fatalla, &c.

cii.

XXIV.]

Independent Tribes.

193
TEKTS.

AfudcUi, or ErfuddU, a cattle-breeding tribe like the

Jilniri,

but

inhabiting

the

jungles

of

the

Euphrates, where they

of tamarisk boughs.
people,

make to themselves huts They are honest, peaceable

and are armed with short spears and matchlocks against the lions which frequent the
river;

perhaps
;

...

...

...

400

Ahu Serai, Ahu A'amis,

tributaries to the

Delim, some

fellah,

and

others,

Anazeh, but

also

under Tm-kish

protection

peaceful shepherd tribes, inhabiting

the right bank of the Euphrates.

The Delim
?

have sometimes good horses

...

Ind^imxdent Tribes of

the Ujyper Desert

and Hamdd.

LeMj), a predatory tribe between Aleppo and

Hama

hard riders

robbers

...

...

Amur, a

small tribe of shepherds and robbers in the

Jebel

Amur

...

...
;

Beni ScdrJchr. Called by some an Anazeli tribe but I They live south of the do not l)elieve this. Hauran, and do not migrate. It has l^een suggested that they are Jews, the tribe of Issachar
7.

Aduan, a predatoiy tribe, They have a bad character

Goblan
...

east

of the Jordan.

in the desert.

Sheykh,

Sherarat, a numerous

trilic,

pm-ely Bedouin, and inthence south-

habiting the

Wady

Sirhan, and

wards as
Aluin, Sheykh,

far

as Nejd.

They have no mares,

...

breed dromedaries, and have a bad reputation

Mohammed

Abunjad.

A small

tribe

allied to the Sherarat.

They

inhabit the

Wady

Araba, and the neighbourhood of Petra

Slel),

a tribe of Indian origin, inhabiting the

and going
VOL.
II.

far

south into Nejd.

Hamad, They come as

194

Bedotnn Tribes of the Euphrates,

far north in the

[cn.xxiv.

summer

as Ti'idmur, following
live.

the gazelle, on which they

No

camels, and
sell

but few sheep.

in
all

They breed

asses,

and

them

the frontier towns ft'om Queyt to Aleppo.

Are accounted ignoble by the pure Arabs, and have a bad reputation on account of a certain
caravan they misled in the desert twenty years

ago and plundered

less,

;*

but are in general a harmtake no part in the desert

wild people,

who

wars.

Tribes under

tlte

partial control of the Pashalih of Bagdad.

TENTS.

MoJitefik,

numerous

and

powerful

tribe,

partly

Bedouin, partly
right

fellah,

inhabiting Irak and the

bank of the Euphrates below Hillah. Their Sheykh is generally appointed by the Pasha of
Bagdad. This
tribe,

though formerly

purely

Bedouin, now cultivates the plains of the Low^er

Euphrates, and has become rich and prosperous.
Present Sheykh, Nassr

8000
tribe, lately

Beni Loam, another pure Bedouin

fellah,

turned

but not to the extent of the Montefik.

inhabit the left

They

bank of the
tribe,

Tigris,
...

and
...

across the frontier as far as into Persia

4000
?

3Iaaddn, a large half-Bedouin

inhabiting Irak
...

and the southern Tigris valley

...

...
...

Alhu 3Iohnmmed, the same Shammartufja, the same

Bi'dta, the

...

?
?

...
...

...

...

... ...

same

...

There are also numerous small tribes and sections

of tribes about Bagdad, but none of

notice except the Sahceans,

them deserve now found only in the

* See Palajrave.

cii.

XXIV.]

The Sabccans.
esli

195

neighbourhood of Souk

Shiokli, a village

on the
in
all

Arab below about 3000 souls.

Shatt
el

Hillah,

and numbering
traditions,

According to the Sabaaan

which date
has been
all

from the creation of the

as follows
:

Avorld, their history

Before the time of Noah, they say,

the

world was Sabsean, believing in one same unseen God, and speaking the same language. Noah liad
four sons, Shem,

Ham, Yaman, and

Japhet,

who

some time

after the flood

began to speak each a

separate language,
father (they

Shem only, preserving that of his know nothing of the tower of Babel),
are the true descendants of Shem,

The Sabaeans
unchanged.

and
it is

to the present day have preserved the ancient tongue

In

it

their hook is written,

and

described as a sort of Syriac.

settled in Egypt, being the

The Sabseans

first

same Egyptians over Pharaoh ruled when he oppressed the children The present tribe claims descent from of Israel. Ardewdn, a brother of the Pharaoh who was drowned

whom

They subsequently founded a Sea. Damascus which lasted till two hundred years after the death of their prophet, John the Baptist (three hundred and sixty-eight before the Then they removed to Bagdad, where they Hejira). flourished until the Caliphate was overthrown by the At that time they possessed four hundred Tartars.
in

the

Red
at

kingdom

churches, but these were then destroyed, Tamerlane

carrying away
it
is

all

their
still

believed

they

books to Ispahan, where They themselves exist.

196

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

xxiv

were dispersed over Irak and probably el Hasa^ and are now reduced to the three thousand souls
mentioned.

As

regards their religion, which, in fact,

is

the

only interesting, or for that matter, authentic part of

the story, they say that they worship the Almighty

God, the maker of light and darkness,

has seen at any time.
servance
is

whom

no one

Their principal religious ob-

Baptism, which they say was instituted

by God

in the garden of Eden,

Adam

being himself
life,

baptised " in the

name of

the

first life,

the second

and the third

names of the Almighty^ but this baptism fell into disuse, and was restored by the preaching of their prophet, John the Baptist. They acknowledge no other prophet, and take no
life," all

three

account of the Old or New Testament histories, except

to the extent of believing that Christ

Ghost made

visible to the world,

believe in a resurrection

was the Holy but not God. They of the body, a day of judg-

ment, and the reunion of every man to his wives. If unmarried the men will receive new wives, the

number allowed

in this world being four.

They

have a sacrament of unleavened bread and wine, of which their priests alone partake in private, and
according to certain secret
to
rites.

This they believe

have been

also instituted in the

garden of Eden.

As
sin

to their rite of baptism,

they say
it

performed in running water, when

must be will wash away

it

and ensure

salvation.

They baptise the

is

children

when

thirty days old, but the rite

constantly re-

CH. XXIV.]

The Sabcsan Religion.

priests

197

newed, the
week.

baptising

tliemselves

once a

They

fust thirty-six

days in the year, ab-

staining from meat, and have four festivals,

New

Year's day

the feast of St. John

the
;

the anniversary of their baptism

day after and one called

fifth

D^hmeh Dimas, of which know the meaning".

I

they do not profess to

got these details from Dr. Colvill, at Bagdad,

their

who knows

Sheykh.

He

considers

their

religion a bastard form of Christianity, and interest-

ing mainly as an instance of the survival of the

Christian tradition in Arabia.*
* Compare Niebulu-'s
list

made

in 1768,

and Burckhardt's

at

the beginning of the present century.

CHAPTER XXV.
First-born of Noah's race, at the door ; Of Eden found, unconscious of disgrace And loitering on while all are gone before

Children of
still

Shem

And

for ever children

Too proud to dig, too careless to be poor, Taking the gifts of God in thanklessness,

Not rendering ought, nor supplicating more, Nor arguing with Him if He hide His face. Yours is the rain and sunshine, and the way Of an old wisdom, by our world forgot. The courage of a day which knew not death Well may we sons of Japhet, in dismay,
Pause in our vain mad fight for life and breath, Beholding you. I bow and reason not.

Physical characteristics of the Bedouin Arabs Thej' are shortlived On certain fallacies regarding them Their humanity Theii- respect for law They are defective in truth and in gratitude Their childish love of money Their hospitality

Bedouin women.

The Bedouin Arab

for his size
;

of pure blood
;

is

seldom more
long-limbed

than five feet six inches high

but he

is

and the drapery in which he clothes himself gives him full advantage of his height. In figure he is generally light and graceful. Indeed, I cannot recall an instance to the contrary, unless it be in Mohammed Dukhi, Sheykh of the Welled Ali,

who

is

rather thick-set.

Actual fatness

is

unknown

CH. XXV.]

Premature Decay.
the pure Bedouins

199
tliey see it in

among

and when

others they look

upon

it

with contemptuous pity as

a deformity.

As younoj men,
looking, with

the Bedouins are often

eyes,

o-ood-

bright
;

pleasant smile, and

very white teeth

but after the age of thirty the

their faces a fierce

habit of constantly frowning, to protect the eyes

from the glare of the sun, gives

character.

expression, often quite at variance with their real

Hard training, too, and insufficient food have generally by that time pinched and Avithered
their

cheeks, and the sun has turned their skin

l)lackness.
fifty

to

an almost Indian
if

At

forty their
I

beards turn grey, and at

they are old men.

doubt

more than a very few of them

for
this

roach the

age of sixty.

The reason

premature decay must

of
life.

l)c

looked for in their

way

From

childhood up,
1)ut

they have been in hard training, eating

This ensures them high health and a
of
all

once a

day, and then sparingly, and sleeping on the ground.

full

enjoyment

their faculties, at the time, but uses the body rapidly ; and a certain " staleness " follows, which

the

Bedouins acknowledge by withdrawing early from all unnecessary exertion. There is little work
in the desert for

men which

needs to be done

and,

once the love of enterprise and excitement over, there is no reason for any but the poorest to go far

from
*

his
is

tent.*
seldom a

Political
sufficient

intrigue

or

love of
the cliildron

Sport

inducement.

None but

200

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

xxv.

hoarding take the place of physical action.

ghaziis
left to

The

the and marauding expeditions are conduct of younger men and the rest of the Bedouin's days are spent in idleness. The reaction
;

is

quickly

felt.

Men

of forty, especially those in a

high position, complain of indigestion, of rheumatism, or other maladies caused

by

inactive

life.

Of

the

first

positive disease they die.

falls seriously
ill,

man, who

has as

little

chance

of recovering as the wild animal has, in these open

plains.

Doctors do not

exist,

nor

is

there

any
sick

knowledge, among the Bedouins, of herbs.

The
to

man
and

is

obliged, whatever his condition,

it

move

with the tribe as

clings to
it

moves.

He

is

set

upon a camel,

as best he

can, in sun or rain or

wind, often with his head hanging

his heels,

down lower than

falling

and only prevented from

In the tent he
lies

by the

occasional helj^ of his sons or the

women who walk

surrounded by his
till

beside him.
friends,

who, very Job's comforters, talk to him

he

Wounds, too, in spite of the healthy condition of body Avhich a spare habit gives, are often fatal from want of knowledge or merely from want of quiet. The Bedouin prefers to die thus, and
dies.

meets his end without

fear.

In certain families

it

is considered a point of honour not to die, as we should say, " in bed." In youth, however, ill-health

or defective powers are

seem interested in
the principal tents.
it,

unknown

and, for enjoyall

though hawks and greyhounds are kept in

cit.

XXV.]

Faculty of Sight.
all

20 r

ment of living, a Bedouin in much out of his few years many.

probability gets as

as

we do out

of our

Much
I

has been talked of the wonderful faculties

of sight and hearing possessed by the Bedouins, but

have not remarked that they excel in

is

the contrary, short-sight

On either. common among them

and hears no better

and the ordinary Bedouin

than the ordinary
Italian,

sees

Greek, or Spaniard.

We

were ourselves constantly appealed to by them when

trying to distinguish objects at a distance.

In the

same way
of course,

their faculty of finding their

the deserts has been

way across much exaggerated. Bedouins, know their own district well, and that
one
;

district is often a large

but, once take

them

An it, and they are very nearly helpless. Anazeh cannot, as a South American gauclio does, make out his course by sun and wind, and keep it day after day till he arrives at the point intended.
out of

mark

on the contrary, from landmark to landfail, he depends entirely on the information he may gather from shepherds or at tents. If the country be uninhabited, he is
travels,
;

He

and, where these

frightened.

Living always in the desert, the Bedouins yet speak of the Choi or Berriye in terms of
awe.

we ventured without
Of keeping a

They could never understand how it was that guides into unknown lands.
straight course for a wliole

day they

seem incapable, for they are unable to calculate the The only gradual motion of the sun round them.

202

Bcdoitin TiHbes oj the Euphrates,

[en.

xxv.

man we met who

could do this was the

little

old
;

Shammar who accompanied

and he w^as almost blind. march it goes hither and
but never straioht to
mental obliquity in
cular strength
its

us across ]\Iesopotamia

When

a tribe

is

on the
right,
is

thither, to left

and

destination.

There

some

this.

The Bedouins have no great appearance

;

of

mus-

but they are singularly active and

are fast walkers
are untiring.

enduring.

They

and

fast runners,

and on horseback

As horsemen, howand
as

ever, according to the ordinary rules

comseats,

pared with some other races, they are not pre-eminent.

Only a few

of

them have
it is difficult

really

good

while of their hands

to judge, as they

ride only with the halter.

They

display

little skill

in

showing

off a horse to

advantage, and none whatTheir only notion

ever in husbanding his powers.

of galloping a horse
legs,
is

to vide, him, with

;

arms and

from

start to finish

but they are dexterous in

turning him sharply and in taking advantage of the

ground in pursuit or flight. Their great merit, as horse-breakers, is unwearied patience. Loss of temper with a beast is not in their nature, and I have never seen them stiike or ill-use their mares
in

any way.

Patience

is

indeed one of the most

characteristic qualities of the Bedouin.

Courage, though held in high estimation,

is

not

considered essential with the Bedouins, even in a

Sheykh.
will

"God

has not given

I

me

courage," they

sometimes say, " and

do not

fight," just as

an

en. XXV.]

Trut/i.

203
" lust his

English hunting
nerve."

man

will

admit having

Their fellows pity rather than laugh at

such people.

The young men, however,

are usually

fond of enterprise, and will start on maraud big

expeditions for glory quite as readily as for gain.

Hard blows

are often exchanged,

;

and most Bedouins

is

have wounds to show

hut no idea of shame

conthe

nected with the act of running away, even

fugiti^'es are in superior force.

if

The Bedouin
takes
life

is

essentially
If

needlessly.

he has killed a

humane, and never man in war

it

he rather conceals the fact than proclaims

while murder or even homicide
is

aloud,

almost

unknown

among

the tribes.

He

feels

no
is

delight, like

men

of

other races, in shedding blood. Truth, in ordinary matters,

virtue

not regarded as a

by the Bedouins, nor

is

lying held shameful.

Every man, they

thought.
affirmation
fact stated
is

say, has a right to conceal his

own

In matters of importance,

the

simple

confirmed by an oath, and then the

be relied on.

may
if

There

is

only one

exception to the general rule of lying

among them.
refuse

The Bedouin,
to say, or he

questioned on the breed of his

mare, will not give a false answer.

He may
does not

may answer

that

lie

know

but he will not name another breed than that to which she really belongs. The original reason of
this
is,

perhaps, that

among themselves

there

is

no
a

deception possible, for secrets do not exist in

Bedouin camp, and each man knows

his neighbour's

204

Bedotiin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch,

xxv.

mare as well as lie knows his own. But the rule, however occasioned, is now universally admitted and I have noticed repeated instances in which truth on this point had Ijeen scrupulously told, when there were no witnesses present, and to the disadvantage of the
teller.

"

What
poor

is

the breed of your

mare
has
" No,

?'' I

have

said, to a

man who

his beast expecting

answered.

me "Not
;

to

buy it. Shuemeh Sbah then?"

has brought " Shuemeh," he

Shuemeh the money value

"

and

this,

although knowing that

of the former

would be three times

that of the latter.

The

rule,

however, does not hold

good on any other point of horse dealing. The age, the cjualities, and the ownership of the horse may
be
all

falsely stated.

in

With regard to honesty, the pure Bedouin stands marked contrast to his half-bred brethren. Among
is

these thieving

the rule, nor

is

the term liar ami,

thieves, ill-taken

when applied
tribes

to them.

and semi-Kurdish

of

The Kurdish Upper Mesopotamia

steal,

make

it

almost a point of honour to

it

but the

pure Arab accounts

larceny are

disgraceful.

Acts of petty

unknown among

mar.

During the whole of

Anazeh and Shamour travels we never lost

the
is

in this

way so much as Highway robbery, on the

the value of a shilling.

other hand,
;

not only
travellers,

permitted, but held to be a right

and

passing without proper escort from or introduction

to the tribes,
clothes,

may
all

expect to lose their beasts, goods,

and

they possess.

There

is

no kind of

cii.

XXV.]

Lazi).

205

shame

attacliecl to

such acts of rapine, more than

to the plunder
frontier.

in ancient times

was attached

and

enslaving of aliens within the

Eoman

By
seize

desert law, the act of passing through the desert

entails
forfeiture

of goods to

whoever can

them.*

respect for law

is

indeed one of the leading

;

features of the Bedouin character

but

it

must

Ije

understood of their own law only, not of Turkish or

European law. These they

despise.

Justice indeed,
is

substantial justice independent of persons,

no-

where more often appealed to nor more certain of attainment than in the desert. The poor man there never suffers wrong, as a i^oor man; and all cases are decided according to the strict meaning of
the law,
it is

impossible to say the

letter, for it
l^y

is

unwritten.

Petty cases are disposed of daily

the

Sheykh

of the section or tribe,

deals
with,

much
of

as a country

magistrate
affiliation,

questions

vagrancy or

while more important matters are re-

served for the special decision of a superior or

stranger Sheykh, or else for arbitration
seven, or twelve
jurors.
I

by

tlu-ee,

know

of a case thus

decided by jury, which will serve as an excellent

illustration

of the

kind of disputes

raised,

and

* " According to Eoman law, iu its more improved state, an alien with whose country the relations of friendshii^ and hospitalitj' did not exist, was not technically considered an enemy, liosth, yet his person might lawfully be enslaved and his in-operty confiscated if found on Eoman territory."Wheaton's Law of Nations.

2o6
the

Bedotdn Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

xxv,

way
:

of

deciding

them.

The
all

case

was as

follows

lu one

of the

Sebaa

tribes,

mares of the

Maneghi breed taken in war

Sheykh
is

are,

custom, the right of a certain family, of

usually a member. Maneghieh mare had thus been taken in that a fine a skirmish by a poor man of the tribe, who at the same time had lost his own mare and the Sheykh had seized her by virtue of his privilege. The poor man protested, and the case was brought for deci;

by immemorial which the Now it happened

sion before twelve elders, chosen for the purpose.

fact his

The poor man argued that the mare taken was in own mare, for in taking this one he had lost The Sheykh pleaded immemorial custom. her. After much consultation, the jury, admitting the
Sheykh's general right, nevertheless gave judgment

and ordered the mare to be given to the poor man. Another curious case was the one we witnessed among the Welled Ali, where the right to Jedaan's wife was in dispute. What is stransfe in these courts is that there is no
in favour of the plaintiff,
officer of

any kind

to enforce the decisions.

Public

opinion alone compels obedience to the law.

In

extreme

cases,
is

and as the utmost penalty of the law,

turned out of the
it

the offender

tribe.

In cases of
a duty
degree.
is

homicide, the law leaves

to

the family of the

deceased to do

itself justice, for

revenge

is

with

all

his

relations within the second

The

slayer himself

may

be

slain, or,

what

con-

CH. XXV.]

The

Law

of Blood.
tlie

207

sidered even more satisfactory,

principle of "

chief

man among

his relations, also within the second degree, on the

you have

killed

my

cousin, I will kill

;

yours,"

death purges a death

and the hlood

that, instead

feud ends.

But sometimes
is

it

happens

of the slayer or his cousin, a second

member

of the
will be

injured family
required,

slain.

Then two deaths

before the balance

and the feud may continue for years is reached. The oblio-ation of
is

vengeance
relation.

so sacred that

men
Taleb

will travel great

distances to find out the enemies of a murdered

Mohammed

ibn

told

us

that,

was killed by one of the hostile faction of Tudmur, a man of the Beni Liiam came all the way from the Jof to avenge him. The feud, however, may at any time be extinguished by the payment of fifty camels, or 250, for each death. These blood feuds are the only cases of deliberate bloodshed known in the desert, and they are rare.
his uncle

when

They have an
they make
cide

excellent effect on public morals, as

men

chary of shedding blood.

A homi-

not only has to fear the vengeance of his

enemies, but the anger of his relations involved by

him

in the quarrel

and

it

is

probably due to this

apparently barbarous law that even robbers and

outlaws seldom take

cite the following.

human
It

life.

As an

instance of

the extreme moderation of Bedouin practice I would

happened not many years

since

young Frenchman, M. Dubois d'Anger, was

2o8

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

liis

[ch.

xxa%

travelling with

servant, wlio

had been a Zouave,

in with a large
his servant

from Aleppo

to

Tudmur, and
tribe.

fell

party of the IMesekha

He and

were

well armed, and, as the Arabs rode

up

to

them,

the Frenchmen dismounted, and, without question,

opened
ball,

fire.

The Sheykh's mare was

killed

by a

but the Arabs were not touched. These charged

on the two Frenchmen,
but,

down

who made

a gallant
in

resistance,
scuffle, his

the

Zouave being

killed

the

master surrendered.

much

incensed at

The Arabs, though the death of the mare, which was

a valuable one, contented themselves with stripping

their captive
his part

and letting him go. The assault on had been unprovoked and there are few countries where the penalty would not have been a
;

severer one.

The weakest point

of the Bedouin character is

undoubtedly his love of money.

This

is

not merely

the careful gathering together of wealth, but a love of the actual coin, the " Avhite silver pieces," which
as money, and strong Thus in inverse proportion to its practical value. all children have a passion for money, as soon as

he prefers to gold.

The love of money,

race,

seems to be natural to the human

they can grasp the idea of ownership, preferring

to
is

it

any plaything that can be

offered them.

practically valueless to them.

Yet it In the same way,

the year round,
give,

the Bedouin, living in the desert

all

and having no need of things that money can

or the opportunity even of spending
it,

will travel

cir.

XXV.]

Bedouin Love of Money.

209

great distances, and give himself infinite toil and trouble to acquire a few pieces, the value of which
in camels or sheep he
collect.

would not be at the pains to In like manner a sheykli, wlio would not
tempted by more practical
offers

suffer himself to be

of ad^^antage, will often forget his dignity at the

sight of coin.
It is

by trading on

this

weakness

that the Turks have gained

many

of their " diplo-

matic triumplis
In
spite,

" in the desert.

however, of their love of money the

Bedouins are not clever commercially. The offer is always a little distasteful to them, in some cases insulting ; and they have no better principle of dealing than to increase the
of buying their property
price

demanded

in strict proportion to the supposed

willingness

of the purcliaser

to

buy.

It

often

happens, for this reason, that a horse or a camel,

which they begin by refusing

afterwards be sold to
original price.
differs

to

one purcliaser, will

at

anotlier

a third of the
spirit,

The commercial
the

however,

considerably in

different tribes.

The

Eeni Sakhr,

for instance,

though accounted pure

the

Bedouins, are said to be as thorough traders as the

Jews themselves

and,

among

Anazeli even,
tribes.

there are well-known

commercial

These,

however, are not the most esteemed.

Public opinion, though acknowledging the delights

of wealth,

.always respects

man who

is

indifferent to them.

The

great sheykhs are usually

liberal of their property, distributing largely

among

2IO
their

Bcdomn

Tribes of the Euphrates,

[cji.

xxv.

adherents the prizes

made

in war, or

the

presents they receive from strangers.

are
in this

The young

men

more remarkaljle way and Faris, the Shammar chief, who represents
;

than the older

the highest traditions of the past, keeps nothing for

himself either in the

way

of presents or prizes.
too, as the
it,

All

goes to his retainers.

Much,

Bedouins

love money, they will not accept

special

except under

circumstances, from strangers living under

tents
;

their

and

this

brings

us to their great

virtue, their hospitality.

Hospitality to the European

mind does not

re-

commend
virtue.
call

itself, like

justice or mercy, as a natural

It is rather

regarded as what theologians

;

a swpernatural one
to require

that

is

to say,

it

would

seem

something more than the instinct

a stranger, to
kill

of ordinary good feehng to throw open the doors of

one's house to his benefit,
one's

lamb

for

and to share one's last loaf with him. Yet the Bedouins do not so regard it. They look upon hospitality not merely as a duty imposed by
divine ordinance, but as the primary instinct of a
well-constituted mind.
to

To

refuse shelter or food

a stranger

is

held to be not merely a wicked

action,

but the YQYj essence of depravity.

acting, could not again

an offence against divine or human law, A man, thus

win the respect or

is

toleration

of his neighbours.
all

This, in principle,
;

the same in

Arab

tribes,

Bedouin or not

but the particular

laws and

obligations

of hospitality

among them

cii.

XXV.]

BcdotiiiL Hospitality.

211
the
Agbciluat,

differ

widel}-.

Tlius,

tlio

Jibuii,

and other fellahin tribes, give liospitality, l)ut they accept payment for it while the lowest tii])e of all, the Amur, will rob the stranger who comes to their tents, and count their hospitality as beginning
;

only from

the

moment

of his eating with them.

Among

pure Bedouins this virtue has a far wider

meanino-.

A stranger once within an Anazeh or Shammar camp, unless he be a declared enemy, the member
of a hostile tribe,
is

secure from all molestation

and even an enemy,

ordinary stranger
is

if

he have once dismounted and

tent, is safe.

touched the rope of a single

The
where
the

at perfect liberty to go
pleases.
size

he will and dismount where he

selects the largest tent,

He

usually

for

its

signifies

wealth of the owner.

There he
will,

may

remain, housed

and
T

fed, as

long as he

the limit of such hos-

pitality in respect of time being quite indefinite.

have not been able to get any one to

fix

its

duration.

Nevertheless, I suspect that, in the tent

of a sheykli or great man, there

rule as to this.
I

must be some

never heard of such a case;

a hint to
or,

but
or

imagine that, after a few days, some friend

the host gives
is

dependent of
it

the

intruder that

time to move on;

host himself

among

comes forward the poor, that the with the tale of an empty larder as an excuse But this is merely a surfor urging departure.
mise.

In ordinary cases the guest stays but one

)

212
night,

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates.

[<n.

xxv.

adieu

and then departs, no greetmg or form of or thanks being considered necessary on

In no tent, however poor, couhl
for lodging or for

leaving.*

be offered in payment food but we have sometimes been asked to pur;

money common
to

chase the lamb or kid with which

feasted.

we were
is

be

In such cases the fiction

preserved of

the animal being procured from another tent.

After a lengthened stay with a Sheykh,

it

is

customary to give a crown piece to the coffee-maker, and perhaps another to the cook, if cook there be,
both usually negro
to
slaves,

with a smaller silver coin

whoever holds your

great

horse's stirrup at mounting.

To the

man

himself presents

may

be offered,

but only at

arrival, so as

not to bear the appearance

cloak, a pair of boots,
is

of being a payment.

and

a bag of sugar for the women,

the usual gift

but coffee-beans and tobacco are always acceptable.

would not be accepted by a great man, unless he had an

pistol, too, is

a welcome present

but

it

equivalent to give in return.

is

In

all

these matters

it

necessary to calculate carefully the rank of the

host and that of the guest, to avoid giving offence.

poor
;

man

is

received in the same

is

way

as a rich
if

one

but the latter

expected to bring a cloak,

the visit be paid to the chief Sheykh of a tribe.

* Gratitude for hospitality is not expected and never shown. Indeed, the French proverb is very applicable to Bedouin morals, which says, " La neeessitu ayant hni, I'ingratitude rentre dans

ses di'oits."

CH. XXV.]

Bedouin

Sobriety.

meut

These presents arc ahvtiys of lionour, not of ('moluunci are generally j^assed on at once to
;

and dependents, that there may be no doubt Poor travellers often stay for weeks at a single camp, passing from tent to tent, and being always well
friends

as to the purity of the Sheykh's motive.

received.

The Bedouins

are hot-tempered, but they seldom

allow their passions to pass wholly beyond control.

It is not often that a quarrel leads to

more than

words, or that a knife

is

drawn
or

in

anjjjer.

One

ex-

cellent reason for this is their sobriety.

No
is

drink

stronger

than Ichhen*

sour

milk,

known
all

among them, and they

look upon the use of

fermented liquors as disgraceful.

Frank even,
Brutal

who

should take Avine or spirits with him to the

desert,

would

forfeit

all

their

respect.

crimes have no place in the catalogue of Bedouin

sins.

So far, I have spoken only of the men. Of the Bedouin women a shorter description will be enough. In person they are proportionately taller than the men, and
fat
Avild
it is

not unusual to see the older of them

and unwieldy.

As

girls

they are pretty, in a

almost

picturesque Avay, and

always

have

cheerful, good-natured faces.

They

are hardworking

* Although no European doctor will admit that sour milk can be in the least intoxicating, the Bedouins look upon it as at least a stimulant and we, who travelled without anj- other, camo at
;

last to re";ard it as such.

Bcdouhi Tribes of the Euphrates,

harclworkecl, doing all the labour of the

[cu.

xxv.

and

fetching
pulling

camp wood and drawing water, setting and down the tents, milking the ewes and shethe lehben, (a
rather

camels, preparing

toilsome
live apart

work,) and cooking the dinners.

They

from the men, but are

under
restraint.

in

no way shut up or placed

all

In the morning they

go out

wood for the day, taking a camel or a donkey with them and, whenever we have met them so employed, they have seemed in the highest possible spirits. They enjoy a good deal of society
to gather
;

amongst themselves, going about together to each other's tents, and taking their children with them.

They have,

besides, the society of their

;

male

rela-

tions in the nearest degrees

by no means one

to be pitied.
it.

and their position is They do not seem

to think of complaining of

No
are.

people are so kind to children as the Bedouins

The son of a Sheykh

day long
are

is

nursed and played

in the Sheykh's tent

with and petted by the

all
;

men

and children are never scolded or

the better
l;)red

ill-used.

Among
carefully

Bedouins the
they

boys

brought

up,

and have very

till

pretty manners.

When

quite young, and

are three years old, however, they are kept dirty

which gives them a slovenly appearance but this is done purposely, to preserve them from the evil eye. Later on they are as clean as most of their elders, which is not, perhaps, sayingmuch.

and

ill-dressed,
;

CH. XXV.]

The Social Position of Women.

In mental qualities the

far

women

of the desert are

bcinor ex-

below the men, their rano-e of ideas

tremely limited.

Some few

of them, however, get

real influence over their husbands,

and even

throuo-h

them over

their tribes.

tent, it is in the

In more than one Sheykh's woman's half of it that tlic politics

of the tribe are settled.

CHAPTEK

XXA'I.

" There is hoije of a tree, if it be cut doTrn, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branches thereof will not cease " * * But man dieth, and waateth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ? " Job.

Eeligion of the Bedouins confined to a belief in GodThey have no ceremonial observances Their oaths They are "without Their superstitions are fevr Their belief in a future life

morality an absolute code Their marriages.

from the
earliest times, the

With
inlieritecl

the single exception of a belief in God,

Bedouins pro-

fess
it

no

religions creed

whatever

neither have they,

may

almost be said, any superstitions.

No peojDle
little

in the world take less account of the supernatural

than they do, nor trouble themselves so

metaphysics.

with
It
;

Their belief in

God

is

of the simplest kind.

hardly extends beyond the axiom that

and,
of
if,

God

exists

as

some have

affirmed, they connect the idea

Him

with the sun or with the heavens, no trace

of such an opinion has

''

come under
it

my

notice,

God

is

God," they say, and

very simply ex-

presses all that they

know

of

Him,

AVho and what

and where He
so

is,

has not, I should think, ever been

much

as discussed

among them.

Of a divine

revelation they seem to have no traditions, nor of

any law divinely instituted. God is the fate to which all must bow, the cause of the good and of

en. XXVI.]

Bedouin Ideas of God.

in
life,

217

tlie

evil

of the rain

and of the sunshine,

of the fertility of their flocks, and of the murrains Avhich sometimes afflict

them.

But they do not

seek to propitiate

Him with

prayer, nor complain of

His severity when they

or fear.
If

sufier.

They

neither bless

nor curse Him, nor do they regard

Him

with love
Avitli

He have any

personal

relation

themselves
the

it is

as the silent witness of their oaths,

their disputes.

name But even

to

which they appeal in

thus, they expect nothing at His hands,

neither protection from

wrong nor punishment

religion,
is

if

they are forsworn.

Prayer, as
practised

an outward act of
;

not

by the pure Bedouins

and, even in those

tribes which have become tainted with the ]\Iahometanism of the towns, it is reserved chiefly for the eyes and ears of strangers. The Shammar, alone of all the nobh tribes we visited, possessed a mollah and his duties with them were in no way of a The reason of his presence at priestly character.
all

must be looked

for in the

semi-Turkish character
son, Faris,

of their late Sheykh, Sfuk,

whose
daily.

though

man of the noblest

birth,

and the highest

character^

still

recites his prayers

With

this almost

single exception, the practice of religion

may

be

taken as the sure index of low morality in a

tribe.

The degraded fellahin of Irak are fanatically Shia and conform to most of the Mahometan rules. Among the Anazeh I do not rememljer having
noticed an instance of prayer.

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xxvi.

Though
all

in no sense religious, the Bedouins, like

Arabs,

make

frequent use of the

name

of God,

generally as a mere form of speech, but occasionally " HamduUah," " Inshto emphasize a declaration.

and the like expressions are in their mouths all the day long, but these certainly have less of serious meaning in them than the corresponding " thank God," and " please God," with us. " Mashallclh,"

allah,"

" as

it

pleases

God "

has, perhaps, a slight

its

tinge of superstition

mixed with

meaning.

It is

used to correct expressions of admiration, for fear of

would be considered impolite and a little dangerous to remark upon the beauty of a mare w^ithout adding " mashallah," and we have more than once been corrected for this by the owner
ill

luck.

Thus

it

of the animal.

The only solemn use made of the Divine name is when an affirmation is to be strengthened by an oath. Then the right hand is raised, and Allah is
invoked.

statement thus emphasized

may
;

in all

instances be relied on from a pure Bedouin but I have not been able to discover that their fidelity is

enforced by any fear of consequences.

Among

the

low Felkihin

who profess Mahometanism, false oaths are of common occurrence. The Bedouin's oath is in fact an appeal to honour, at least as much as to
tribes,

religion

and this may be further seen in the corresponding form of affirming a promise, " aala rasi,"
;

("on

my head
is,

be

it,")

There

however, one solemn

where no name of God is used. act, to which God

cii.

XXVI.]

The Oath

of Brotherhood.

219
a true

is really called

as witness,

and which has

religious character with those

who make

it,

the oath

of brotherhood.

This

is

essentially the

covenant

which Abraham made with Abimelech at Beersheba, and binds those who take it in all respects to act as brothers. Aid and assistance must be given in case of private quarrels, and, if contracted between sheykhs, in case of war. Neither the sheykh nor
his people can

commit any

act of hostility against

the people of a brother sheykh, nor can cattle be

retained
if

robbed from a brother.

or

It often

happens
to

that

in a raid camels

sheep, belonging

a In

brother, are taken with the spoil of the enemy.

this case,

on appeal made,
if

they are at once restored.

tribes,

Moreover,

brothers, belonging to hostile

battle,

happen

to

meet in

they

may

not engage or

take part

directly against each

other,

and must

choose other combatants.

The oath
words
to
it

of brotherhood

is

never lightly taken or

with other than a serious intention.

is

The form of

repeated in a grave voice, and no allusion

of a trivial nature

would be

tolerated, either

before or after the act.

it,

Two

witnesses

must

attest

though

it is

only necessary for one to be actually

it

present.

The other may be informed of

I

im-

mediately afterwards.

have never heard of an

instance where the oath has been broken.

Though usually contracted in consequence of some real sympathy between the swearers, an alliance of this sort is sometimes made between the

20

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[rii.

xxvi.

sheyklis of tribes for political motives, or even for

Two slieykhs will thus swear brotherhood as the preliminary to a peace and, on the other hand, most Bedouin sheykhs
motives of advantage.

have brothers among the sheykhs of the desert towns, who are often of pure Arab blood, and who
recomise the rules of Desert honour. o
case the oath
is

In this latter

of great service to both parties, to

the Bedouin in the town and to the townsman in the Desert.

The oath binds those who have taken

for there
is

it

in every

respect as brothers, except in the matter of marriage,

no prohibition of marriage between a

sister.

brother and his brother's

belief,

then, in God, certainly exists

among
it is

the Bedouins, though the only active form of

submission to the Divine will.

It stands in sins:ular

correspondence with the religion

patriarchs.

of the

ancient
it is

At the

present day, no doubt,

faith,

but

a vague reflection of the ancient

as

and depends

much upon custom

as every other belief or preju-

AVe w^ere pointed out in the Shammar tents certain men, the Zediye, who,
dice of the Bedouin mind.

the Arabs explained to us, were distinguished from

The first was that they and the second that they wore their shirts cut square at the neck. Those who importance told us this made no distinction
themselves for two reasons.

prayed to the

devil,

between the two

peculiarities.

With

the belief in God, relio;ion in the desert ends.

CH. XXVI.]

The Rcligwn of Job.

faitli,

221

The kindred

so essential to our ownhap})incss,

that in a future

life,

seems to have no

places in

the

Bedouin mind.
itself,"

Like Job, the Bedouin looks upon

is

the grave as a " land of darkness which

darkness

and it enters not into the scope of his wishes to hope for anything beyond. It is difficult for a European to put himself into the position of one

who

is

content to die thus,

who

neither believes nor

despairs because he does not believe.

The Bedouin

knows

that he shall die but he does not fear death.

He

believes that he shall ])erish utterly, yet he does

not shudder at the oTave.

He

thinks no more of

complaining than ^ve do because we have not wings.

In his scheme of the universe there has never been

room for a heaven or a hell. The words I have quoted

thought,
little

at

the

head of this

chapter are precisely the expression of the Bedouin's

if

he thinks of death.
it.

But

in fact he thinks
life

or nothing about

His way of

prevents

this.

In Europe

thought, quite as
habits
as

we suffer from the malady of much in consequence of our idle

excess
of
intelligence.

from an

The
;

Bedouin, in his youth, has no time for idleness

is

he

constantly employed.

life

spent in the open

air,

a thoroughly healthy condition of body, a spare

diet,

and hard
or

exercise, are not

thought,
reflection

to

that

conducive to serious melancholy which leads to

upon things unseen. AYe ourselves had ample proof of this during our travels. Our minds were busy all day long with the things before us.

22 2

Bedouin Tribes of the Eitphrates.

past and of the future

[ch. xxvi.

Of

tlie

we thought

little,

but

of our immediate prospects of dinner much.

As we

sat hour after hour in our saddles, watching the

horizon turn slowly round us, or marking the sun's

progress

by the shadows

of our camels' necks,

we

acknowledged that we could not think. Our hopes were bounded by the Avell which we might reach at evening, our fears by the low line of hills which

The interest of the might conceal an enemy. moment and the bare pleasure of living absorbed all our fancy. A vivid present shut out past and future,
and even in moments
the thouo'ht of death.
of danger

we had

not time for

Thus
old
aofe,

it

is

with the Bedouins in youth

fails

but in
their

even when health

them and
all his

strength,

they are no better circumstanced.

Bedouin may perfectly well pass

one of them
In the outer
alone.
tent, if

days from
of society.

the cradle to the grave and never have spent a single

His

life

is

life

he be a rich man, no hour ot the day nor any day in the year, will he find less than half a dozen friends or dependents while in
;

the

inner tent,

women and

children, slaves

and

relations

are constantly present.

If he is a poor

man, he will sit all day in the tents of others. No Bedouin rides, even for a few miles, alone and
;

like his mare, if he finds himself without his fellows,

the bravest

is

frightened.

Another reason too why in Europe we so greatly appreciate and fear death, is that all of us have at

CH. XXVI.]

Absence of Superstitions.
otlier of

223

some time or
with
it.

our lives stood face to face

In the desert, no one comes back from

first serious
Avill

such an interview, for the

iUness

kills.

The Bedouins know that they

have seen others die
;

die because they

but they have never known

what

it is

to be in the

jaws of the

lion.

Thus, with

the terror of death the necessity of another life ceases.

It does not present itself to their imagination,

their fancy has never taken

and wing beyond the grave.

Of

superstitions I

have noticed singularly few in

the desert, and none that will stand the test of a sacrifice of real advantao-e.

The Bedouins have indeed

and markings
in their
;

certain prejudices as to colour

mares, and account this lucky and that unlucky

but none would reject a good animal for a mere

They have no lucky days or lucky months. They attach no omen to the path of birds Tliey dream in the air or of beasts on the plain. no dreams, and see no apparitions. They dress, indeed, their children in black, and keep them unwashed for fear, they say, of the evil eye but I would as soon account for it by the common reason
fanciful reason.
;

custom.
perstitious,

Their ejaculations, too, are mildly su-

but no one would quarrel with another The fact is, they care for using or not using them.
exceedingly
little

about these things and a great

deal for material advantage.*

* The boy Ghanim, who travelled with us, wore au amulet on which he had brought from Jebel Shammar as a protection from bullets but he was ashamed to have it seen.
his arm,
;

2 24

Bedouin Tribes of the Eitphrates.

tlie

[en. xxvr.

from ourselves as is deduced from certain divinely instituted laws, but with them
In morality
differ

Bedouins

widely as in

religion.

With us morality

it is

accepted as a natural order of things.

appeal to conscience or the will of

They

make no

God
it

in their distinctions between right and wrong, but

appeal only to custom.

This

is

right, l^ecause

has always been accounted right, that wrong for a

similar reason.

"We

keep our

oaths,''

they say,

" because
to us if

we are Bedouins. It would be a shame we did otherwise. The Turks break their
To them
it
is

no shame." The Bedouin rules, with respect to wine and forbidden meats, are accounted for in the same " The Sleb," they say, " eat the hedgehog way. we do not." It is hardly more than a matter of
;

oaths, because they are Turks.

statistics.

That they have, however, very strong principles of right and wrong is evident on the face of it, as
is

the support given to morality by public opinion.

in the desert admires or approves the evil-

No man
him

doer, even if he be successful.

still

in spite of his

The shame clings to power or of his wealth.

Courage, hospitality, generosity, justice,

virtues which always

these

are

command

respect in the desert

and although lying and thieving, under certain restrictions, carry

with them no penalty in public

reprobation, other crimes which

tolerate are not forgiven so easily.

we

in our laxity

Breach of trust

and

dishonesty, so universal in

modern Europe, and

en. XXVI.]

Bedouin Morals.
there,

--D

so little coiiJcmnccl

are considered
I

by the

Bedouins pre-eminently shameful.

incredible as
it

do not think,

may sound

to English ears, that the

friend,

Bedouin exists who, if trusted with money by a would misemploy it. The Weldi and Haddadin are entrusted every winter by the
citizens of

Aleppo and Mosul with thousands of sheep, for which they account satisfactorily in the spring to
their owners.

The Bedouin system of joint ownership in a mare would be impossible in a country where honesty between man and man was not a
general rule.

In

all

the tribes,

it

constantly happens

widows and orphans succeed to considerable properties in camels and sheep, but nobody supposes them to be in any particular dangerofsufiering wrong at the hands of their relations. The Agheyl are proverbial for their unimpeachable honesty and there is no man among them who might not be trusted with large suras of money. That there are rogues
that
;

in the desert

is

probable, but dishonesty

is

not, as

modern Europe, the rule. It is the very rare The thieves for the most part hang exception. together, and form small tribes apart from the rest
in
these are composed of

men

Avho have been turned

out by their fellows, and of

whom

nothing good

can be expected.

In the large tribes persons of

known
power

dishonesty are not tolerated.

In the same
is

way

injustice

on the part of those in

almost impossible.
;

asserts itself

Public opinion at once and the sheykh, who should attempt

2 26

Bedouin Tribes of

tlie

Euphrates,

[ch. xxvr.

to override the Law,

would speedily
is

jfind

himself

deserted.

Although great latitude

allowed by Bedouin

law in the point of marriage and divorce, immorality, in the technical sense of an offence ao-ainst those laws, appears to be far less common tlian with European nations. It is, of course, difficult for a mere
passing stranger to get information on these points,

but

should say, from

is

conjugal infidelity

all that I have heard, that most uncommon in the desert.

There are several reasons for

place, every one in a

this.

In the

first

Bedouin

tent,

women

as well
it is

as men,

must

live constantly

en evidence, and

difficult to

conceive

how an

intrigue could be

comright

menced

or carried on.

The women have no

to speak to any

man

but their nearest relations, and

could not do so without twenty witnesses to repeat

what had happened.

The connivance of sisters, mothers-in-law, and servants would be necessary for any woman who designed a violation of the marriage law. Then divorce is so easy and simple a process that punishment would at once follow, the slightest suspicion of a real cause for complaint being more
than
sufficient reason.

A woman may be

sent back

to her parents without other form than that of the

husband's saying to her before witnesses, "

divorced/' or even without any form at
all
;

You

are

and she

has an equal right to leave him, with or without reason.

The ill-assorted marriages then generally end within a few months of their being contracted and there is no
;

en. XXVI.]

TJicir Marriages.

227

on the ground of domestic unhaj^piness. The men, too, affect an extreme indifference to the charms of female society, possiblyexcuse
left for intrigue,

more than they

credit
is

feel

l3ut

the fact proves that no

attached,

even among

the young and

thoughtless, to

what

are called " successes."

Indeed,

extreme attention to

women

is

always looked down

upon by the Arabs

as effeminate

and "Turkish."

Mohammed
house for a

who had been away from his month, when I asked him if he was not
ibn Taleb,

anxious to get back to his wife and children, replied, as if mortified at a charge of weakness, " ^\Tiy
should I wish it?
I
is

have hardly yet

left

home."

Open

licentiousness

unknown
is

in the desert.

The poorer Bedouins seldom have more than one

wife at a time, thouo-h there

no

restriction in their

law on that head.

one.

Nor do

the rich often contract a

first

second marriage, as long as the

remains a happy

A woman who pleases her husband and hasborne

is

him sons

pretty safe against the introduction of

into his tent.
is

new women
disagreement

The common cause of

fails to

when

the wife

give a son to
is

her husband, for the lack of male heirs

Bedouins.

considered

not only a misfortune, but a disgrace

among

the

Then, after two or three years, the huspretty sure to contract

first

band

is

new

marriage,

sometimes sending back the

or more
case,

wife to her parents,

commonly retaining both.

quarrels

Where

this is the

and especially
issue,

after repeated failures to obtain

male

and disagTcements

will arise

2 28

Bedotiin

Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch. xxvi.

between
to see a

rival wives.

In such cases

it is

not unusual

woman

leave her husband for the reason that

first

she cannot agree with the elder wife, for the

the household, and often abuses

married generally retains her position as mistress of

it.

It

is,

however,

remarkable

how

little

jealousy

is

generally shown,

even where several wives have to live together.

To

European ideas all this is of course ver}^ distasteful, but custom sanctions their position to Ai^ab women, and there is nothing in the least degrading to them
in the fact

that

they are not alone in the tent;

while their quarrels seem to have no deeper foundation than those

which divide the members of an

ordinary Enghsh household.

Women,

in the desert,
;

are respected

have their rights, which and they do not complain that they
It

are ill-treated.

has not yet occurred to them

that they should be placed on an equal footing with

their husbands or their brothers.

They

are hard-

worked and happy.

CHAPTEE
Political

XXVII.

constitution

of the

Bedouins

equalitj'

fare

Their blood feuds.

political

Their

Their

liberty

Their

intolerance of authority Their niles of war-

The

organisation
it

of

tlie

Bedouins

is

extremely interesting, for

gives

us the purest

example of democracy to be found in the world,

perhaps the only one in which the watch-words of
liberty,

equality,

and
is

fraternity are

more than a

name.
Liberty indeed
the basis of the whole system,

and not national alone but individual liberty, unfettered by any restrictions of allegiance either to king The individual Bedouin owes no duties or state. even to his tribe, of which he cannot rid himself by a simple act of will nor does he submit to any limita;

tion of the sovereign right he possesses over his

person, except
interests.

by

his

own

free act

If dissatisfied, he can at

and in his any time retire

own own

from the society he belongs to, without question asked or fear of penalty. His position reminds one
rather of that of the

of a subject or
tribe,

member of a citizen. As long

political club tlian

as he
rules,

is

with his

he must conform to certain

all its

and he takes

part in

deliberations, but he can at any time

its

withdraw from

authority,

if

he finds his opinions

230

Bedouin Tribes of

the Enphratcs.

[ch.

xxvn.

in a minority or his independence hampered.

No

one therefore in the desert has the least cause to complain of tyranny, for the remedy is always at
hand.

Thus

it

constantly happens that,

when party

feeling has run high in a tribe, the minority, instead

of submitting their opinion to that of the majority,

retires

from the main body and

lives apart,

without

the secession being treated by these as an act of

treason or hostility to the state.

Even a

single

individual

may

retire
;

unquestioned, to pitch his

and in time of peace it is rare tents where he will to find more than fifty or a hundred families living
together in daily intercourse.

Even when

there

is

war,

it is

rather the fear of being attacked in detail

its

than any duty towards the tribe which keeps

The Eoala, while we were with them, were assembled to the number of twelve thousand tents on the plain of Saighal, for war was going on, but they told us that five hundred tents had remained in Nejd, when the main body marched north, owing to a disagreement between a certain

members

together.

sheykh and the supreme sheykh of the tribe, Ibn They spoke, however, with no bitterness Shaalan. of the secession, though it had weakened them in

an hour of danger, nor did they question the right of the minority to do as it pleased.

The individual then

the desert.

is

the basis, from which one

should start in a review of the political system of

Each man's
is

tent,

to

paraphrase the
is

English boast,

his castle,

where he

free to

do

CH. XXVII.]

Individual Liberty.
without
let or

231

as

he

likes,

hindrance from his neii^h-

hours, while he has the additional advantao-c over

the Englishman that he can remove his house and

set it

up again wheresoever he
is

pleases.

In

it

he

is

free

of all control, whether from tax-gatherer or

policeman, and he

obliged to contribute nothing,

not even his services in time of war, to his neighbours.

It is
little

however immensely

to his

advantage to yield a

of this absolute independence, for the sake of

protection, for he cannot practically live alone, or he

would be pillaged by the men of other have a natural right to despoil him.

tribes,

who

He
tribe,

lives, then,

except in rare instances, with his

in

and takes part with them

the

common

de-

fence, bringing his spear,

when

required, to swell the

ranks of the defenders.

fellows in acts of

He

takes part too with his

war and robbery, which he could not

do alone, and submits to the general laws and regulaHe has tions which are necessary to every society. feeling that not, however, though a poor man, the
he
is

amenable to laws made by others, not

for their interests.
is

for his

own but

The system of government

tribe or section of a tribe is

a simple one.

Each

of a sheykh, chosen

by vote

under the nominal rule and there is no quali;

fication recjuired either in the electors or the elected.

Common

prejudice, nevertheless,

is

in favour of the

supreme power being entrusted to members of certain families and the sheykh is usually chosen
;

out of these.

certain

amount

of wealth

is

neces-

232

Bcdoiiiii

Tribes of the Euphrates,

for
;

[rn.

xxvn,

sary too

in a slieykh,

on him the principal

burden of hospitahty

falls

and the

qualities for

governing, which seem to be hereditary everywhere,

are fully recognised as such in the Desert.
son, the brother, or the uncle of their late
is

The

sheykh

the

man

usually chosen to succeed him; and

nothing but extraordinary aptitude for command can raise a new man to this position. Real power
there
is

but

little

in the

hands of

the

sheykh,
him.

though many thousand men nominally obey

The

truth
;

is,

he represents only the united will of

political

the tribe

and in

matters he has to follow

rather than lead public opinion.

very bold or a

very clever sheykh

may

for a time become vested

is

with real power, but this

in virtue not of his

position but of his character.

weaker

man

is

merely the representative of his

one seems generally preferred.

tribe,

and such a

The sheykh has many duties and few advantages. On him falls the trouble of deciding small cases of dispute, quarrels between wife and husband, disputes
as to ownership in a camel or a sheep.

He

has to

transact the political business of the tribe, to sign

the letters that are sometimes written

scribe,

by the public
hours for his

who is often
all to

a townsman, to receive strangers,

all

and above
people.

keep open house at

He

it is

who

is

called in to stop quarrels,

by the authority
the tribe from

of his presence,

and to rebuke
is

dis-

turbers of the peace.

His main privilege

to camp, fixing

to lead

camp

by the position

cH.xxvii.]

The Position of Shcykh.

233

of his

own

tent the ever-chano-inG: site of the rest.

and of course the place of honour at all meetings, and the presidency in councils of war. He cannot, however, levy the smallest tax on his own authority, or decide on any matter of important interest, nor has he any thing in the way of body guard or police to
has, too, certain extra shares in 1)ooty taken,

He

enforce his authority.

His orders in small matters

is

are obeyed, because public opinion

on

his side.
of.

Where
spect
is

it is

otherwise, they are

made no account

In most

tribes,

however, considerable outward re-

shown

to the chief

whom

they have chosen.

The men rise when he enters their tents, and show hun the kind of familiar deference paid by well brought up people to their fathers. It is seldon"
that he abuses this position.

Airs of authority and

command

are not tolerated

by the Bedouins, and are

It is

seldom assumed by their Sheyklis.

not con-

sidered well bred either to affect distinction of dress,

or magnificence even in arms ; and the only

man we

saw with any such pretension was Jedd,an's half-witted who wore a shirt of chain armour. The Sheykhs, however, may be usually distinguished by the possession of a sword, an old Damascus weapon
son, Turki,

in a

cestors,
is

shabby scabbard, inherited from remote anbut the only real superiority shown by them

one of manner.
nearly always

Good breeding and good

birth

found together in the Desert. Jedaan, powerful chieftain as he is, shows his rough
are

heels in his want of manner.

2 34

BcdoiiiiL

Tribes of the Euphrates,

the tribes sliow

[en.

xxvn.

For

certcain families
;

an almost
of one of

fanatical respect

and, wlien a

member
man,

them happens
is

to be also a great

his influence

nearly nnbouncled.

In these cases he has real

Abd id Kerim, Sidiman ibn Mershid, and Feysul ibn Shaalan were of this class ; but there is no one at the present moment who can be named
power.

with them.
all the members of a tribe are equal, and the poorest shepherd will speak to his sheykh as to a relation, and by his Christian name, but

In principle,

this equality is

tempered by the prejudices of

birth.

Wealth of

itself has little power to win respect, but high Inrth, descent from certain well-known heroes

or families of traditional good breeding,

is

immensely
is

thought

of.

As

the

Anazeh

or

Shammar
so
is

superior

to the Jiburi or the

Haddadm,

the Ibn Jendal

or the Ibn

Hemazdi

superior to the ordinary Anazeh.

Ibn Meziad of the Hesenneh, though a poor man,

has the choice of
his sons-in-law,
all

the slieykhs of the Desert for

fifty

and can command a dowry of

give a
list

camels.

will

of the families

most

esteemed, in the order of rank generally assigned

to them.

The The The The The

Ibn ^Meziad of the Hesenneh.

Ibn Jendal of the Koala.

Ibn Tayar of the Roala. Ibn Henuizdi of the Ibn Haddal.

Ibn SmejT of the Welled
All.

cu.xxvii.]

Bedotdn Nobility.
five,

235

These

they say, have from all time killed a

lamb

for their guests.

Next

to these

come

The Ibu Si'iik of the Jerba Shamiuar. The Sheykhs of the Tai.* The 11311 Hecleb of the Moiiyaja. The Roos of the Mehed. The Ibn Mershid of the Gomussa. The Sheyklis of the Moali

and others which I cannot enumerate. The Ibn Shaalan of the EoaJa have but a noblesse and Jedaan is a iKiTveim. d'epee These however are but social distinctions. Politically and before the law, all members of a tribe are
;

equal, whether high or

low born, rich or poor, the

only exceptions to this rule being perhaps certain

families

who

are allowed

some small privileges in the

distribution of spoils of war.

To

ascend, next, from the individuals composing

itself, it

the tribe to the tribe

ally that the
is is

may

be stated generpossess,

possessed also

same sovereignty, which these by the tribe. Each tribe,

its

in fact,

a separate nation with

its

own

rights of peace

and
of

war, and

own

political independence.

Some

them, such as the Roala or the Shammar, are strong enough to stand alone, but most remain grouped
together

by

ties

of ancient consanguinity or for

mutual protection.
*

Thus the Sebaa

consists

of

The family

are probably equal to the five

of the Tai Sheykhs and that of the Jerba Shammar But I have given first mentioned.

them

in the order I heard

them named among the Anazeh.

236

Bedojiin Tribes of the Etiphrates.

[ch.

xxvn,

seven independent
Slieykh,
is

tril^es,

each owning

its

separate

and bound together by

its

ties of blood.

Each

accounted the equal of

neighbour, and they

recognise no

common

civil authority.

They have,

however, from time immemorial marched together,

and in war time fiwht under a common leader. The same may be said of the four tribes of the Fediian,
while
a
still

wider consanguinity embraces these

including the Koala
itself,

and other
since the

tribes,

in the

It is many years however Anazeh fought together under one common leader. The Shammar, though divided into twenty different sections, each owning a Sheykh, acknowledge one supreme chieftain common to them all, Ibn Sfiik of the Jerba tribe. The Jelaas tribes, in

great clan of Anazeli.

like manner,

acknowledge Ibn ShaaMn.

Avar,

In time of
except in

the authority

of the

Sheykh,

civil matters, is

superseded by that of a

military commander, chosen entirely for his personal

by the tribe, who becomes at once their leader and commands the obedience of all, even of the Sheykh himself. This officer is called the Akid
merits
or Agid, (whence the English " guide
"),

literally

and he is entrusted with all military operations and plans, ghazus, excursions and retreats. He is often the Sheykh himself, but not by any means always so. Sotamm ibn Shaalan, who is certainly Sheykh of the most powerful tribe in the desert, is not their Akid and the seven tribes of
the leader
;
;

the Sebiia are at this

moment

so destitute of mili-

cii.

XXVII.]

The Lazus oj IVar.

237

tary talent

among
AVar

themselves, that they have been

obliged to take Jedaan, a mere outsider, as their

commander.

is

so habitual a state of thino-s

among
highest

the tribes, that the

Akid

is

a person of the
the
riches

importance.
of
all,

On him depend
and he
is

and prosperity
It will

treated with the

greatest deference.

be necessary

now

to explain something of

the causes and conduct of military operations in the

desert.

The wars of the Bedouins

obstinate,

are neither bloody nor

though peace
years.

may

not be formally

made

for

many
is

The Anazeh and Shammar hold

;

themselves, however, to be natural enemies

and no
There
only

peace

supposed

j)c)ssible

between them.
but these

may, indeed, be periods of

truce,

last

so long as the adventurous spirits on either side

choose to remain quiet, and do not hinder ghazus

and marauding

parties being sent across the border.

;

Occasionally individual Sheykhs may come to terms and it is reported only this summer that Faris Sheykh of the northern Shammar, being pressed by superior forces under his brother's command, has made an alliance with Jedaan, Akid of the Sebaa but if true, this is an unexampled event. The wars which break out between different These sections of the Anazeh are more transitory. are usually commenced at the instigation of the Turks, whose motto, "divide and rule," leads them
to interfere in
desert
politics.

quarrel

is

not

238

Bedouin Tribes of the

to

Eiiphi^ates.

[ch.

xxvn.

difficult

make.

certain tribe lias prospered

and herds, so that it begins to feel itself cramped for want of space. The Pasha of Damascus or Homs has heard of this, and sends a
rich in flocks
polite

and grown

message to the Sheykh, inviting his attend-

ance at the Serai.

There he

is

received with a robe

is

of honour and amiable attentions, and

as all Bedouins are, with the
settled
tribe,

dazzled,

power and wealth of

The Pasha asks after the welfare of his life. and condoles with him on the lack of pasture,
tribe,

suggesting that there are rich plains further on,

occupied indeed by another

both.

but

sufficient for

The Sheykh is flattered and pleased at the idea of Government protection, which the Pasha
speedily promises.

He
and

returns with presents in his

tells his

hand

to his tents,

people that he

is

the friend and protdge of the Valy. accept the idea of the

They

readily

new

pastures and send

him

again to the town, this time with a mare for the

Pasha's use, and a few dromedaries for his servants.

Terms

are soon
;

Bedouin

and,

made between the Turk and the on a certain sum paid, the pastures
to belong to the Sheykh.
is

are declared

by the Pasha

These are invaded, and war

the result.

few

men

are killed on either side,

Then the Turk retires the Sheykh to fight it out alone.

taken.

and a few mares and leaves his friend

Such has been the history of half the Bedouin wars of this century, and will be of many more, for
history repeats itself in the desert with surprising

CH. XXVII.]

Act of Surrender.
AYar, however,
it
is

239

rapidity.
scouro-e

is

not there the terrible

nations.

amono;
is

civilised
kill,

The idea
is

of civilised war

to

burn, and utterly destroy

your enemy

till

he

svibmits,

but a milder rule

observed in the desert.

There the property of the

object of the

enemy, and not

fightins;.

his person, is the

It

is

not wished that he should be de-

stroyed, only ruined, the extreme penalty of defeat

being the
furniture

loss of flocks

and mares. The person of the enemy is sacred when disarmed or dismounted and prisoners are neither enslaved nor held to other ransom than their
fare does not go.
;

and herds, of tents, tentBeyond this Bedouin war-

mares.
is

It is

very seldom that personal animosity

;

and no blood is needlessly In the shock of battle a few spear-wounds shed. are exchanged by the more ardent youth, but no

shown on

either side

man

is

killed

except by accident.

Indeed,

it

is

held to be a clumsy act to

object of the fighting
is

kill outright, for

the

sufficiently obtained

merely dismounting or wounding the enemy.

combats, in which the weaker usually
flies

by The
is

battle consists, as in heroic times, of a series of single

and

pursued by the stronger.

Then

it

becomes a quesled the

;

tion of speed with the mares, and of doul)ling and

dodging with their

riders.

The chase has

two combatants,

it

may
''

be, far
fail.

the pursued begins to

the ground and calls

from the battle and He throws himself to

" " I yield
"
!

daUl !

Then

the pursuer, taking the camel-hair rope, called the

240
agJiaJ,

Bedoiiin

Tribes of the Euphrates.

[cH.xxvir.

which

is

a part of his head-dress, and which

in fighting he has

hung over

his shoulders (for the

it

Bedouins

fight bare-headed),

he throws

round the

neck of the suppliant, and by this act proclaims him His arms and mare then become the procaptive.
perty of the captor
;

and, even

if

rescued

later,

the
If,

prisoner can take no further part in the fight.

with his surrender, his mare

j)eople

is

captured, he

is

then

let go, to find the best of his

way back

to his

own

on foot but,
;

if

the mare escape or be rescued,

then the prisoner must accompany his captor to the

tent of the latter, where he
is

hospitably entertained,

but held to ransom until such time as the mare can

be delivered.

Afterwards he
life is

is free

to depart.*

The reason why

be looked
for,

seldom taken in war must

partly in the fact that firearms are

not in general use, partly in the custom of claiming,

on the conclusion of peace, damages for each death. A tribe which has a balance of fifty lives to account for, may have a heavy ransom to pay at the end of The mares taken are also sometimes rethe war.
stored
usual.

to sell

by the articles of the peace but this is not The captors of them are generally anxious or exchange them with tribes not concerned
;

in the war, so as to aA^oid the possibility of such

restoration.

When
dam,

accounts are settled the blood

money,
*

liak el

is

paid in camels,

fifty I believe,

that he will send his mare, and always

Sometimes the prisoner, on taking oath before two witnesses if he have no mare, is at

once released.

cii.

XXVII.]

Death of Mitbakh,
;

241
1

for each death, as in tlie case of homicide

)ut

the

individual

shayer
is

is

not personally liable for the

Deatli

amount, which
in

levied on the whole tribe.

war does not

;

entail a Ijlood feud

with the family

killed in
is

of the deceased

but,

if

man

is

war by
held to

one with

whom
this

he

is

at feud, his death

count in the quarrel.

Though
it

is

the usual
life

humane

rule in war, yet

appears that the

of the Sheykli of a tribe

daliil "

may

occasionally be taken without his "

being-

accepted.
JMershid,

Thus Meshur's father, Mitbakh-iljnwas slain by a party of Koala, who met

superior
force while

him

in

the
fled,

Eoala were at war.

jMitbakh

Sebaa and the and being well

mounted would no doubt have escaped, but that his mare tripped in a jerl3oa-hole, and fell with him. Then, though disarmed and dismounted, several of the Eoala fell upon him and cut him down. Tliis, however, is a very unusual instance, and so is what
followed
chief's
;

for the

Sebaa were so enraged at their

death that they hamstrung the mare, which

his
fall,

had caused

and which had followed them

in their flight.

In this case a blood feud has been

the result between the Ibn Mershids and the Ibn

Shaalans, a fact which seems to
of

show that the death

Five lives of
it,

Mitbakh was considered

irregular.

the Ibn Shaalans have been taken in return for

the last by our young friend Meshiir only a few

months

ago.

Sheykh's

life

counts for no more

this occa-

than that of any ordinary person, but on

242

Bcdcmhi Tribes of the Eiiphrates.

[ch. xxvir.

sion five lives were claimed, because five

Eotila

men

of the

had talvcii part in killing ]\Iitbakli. The tales of throat-cutting told by Mr. Palgrave and others may be true of the tribes he visited, but are not true of the Auazeli or Shammar. The report of j^risoners having been thus murdered by the
Eoala, which reached us at Aleppo, turned out on
investigation
to

be entirely unfounded, and the

l)y

event justified the disbelief in them at the time

all

who knew

the Bedouins.

cS.g

CHAPTER

XXAaiT.

ON HORSES.
"A neighing quadruped, used in war, and draught and
carriage."

Jonssoy.

Arab horse-breeding
breed

Obscurity respecting There no Xojdean Pictui-e of the A.nazeh horse lie a bokl jumper Is a fast horse for his His nerve excellent, and his temper Causes of deterioration How the Bedouins judge a horse 'Their system of breeding and training Their horsemanship indifferent Their prejudices Pedigree of the thoroughbred
it

is

is

size

Arabian horse.

CoxsiDERiNG the obscuiity in

subject of Aivab horse-breeding
is

wliicli

the whole

hidden in Eng-

Land, I trust that I shall be excused for venturing

to give a slight sketch of this interesting subject.
It

an}' other
;.cspecial

was one that eno-ao-cd our attention more than on our late journey, and which we took
pains to understand in principle as well

as in detail.
It
is

sino'ular that
this.

have attempted
us
little

former travellers should not Niebuhr and Burckhardt, extell

haustive as they generally are, are silent here, or

that
is correct,

while

latei' travellers,

either

from lack of interest or lack of knowledge, ignore

K 2

244

Bedouin Tribes of

the Euphrates,

[en.

xxvni.

the subject altogether.

Mr. Palgrave, in his con-

tempt of

all

things Bedouin, disposes of the Anazeli

horses in a few sentences, which reveal his little

ac(|uaintance with his subject,

and repeats a fantastic account of the Royal Stables at Riad and the tale of a distinct Nejdean breed existing there, a talc which so far as I could learn no Bedouin north of Jebel Shammar believes a word of. Mr. Palo-rave must have been deceived on this point by tlie towns-

men

of Riad, for the northern Bedouins

know Ibn

Saoud perfectly by name and know of his mares. But they all assert that the Riad stud is quite a modern collection, got together by Feysul and acAbdallahquired principally from themselves. il)n-Feysul-ibn-Saoud still sends to the Anazeh and I know for additions to it from time to time of one instance in which he sent four mares from Riad as far as Aleppo to a celebrated horse standing
;

there.

General Daumas's book on the horses of the

Sahara does not do more than touch on those of

Araljia
;

and, with the exception of an Italian

work
I

which

have heard

of,

but which

is

out of print,

know

of nothing on the subject better than Captain

Upton's pamphlet called " Newmarket and Arabia.''

and generally correct notions, is but a sketch taken from informaThe pamphlet, as far tion gained at second hand. iis it relates to Arabia, consists mainly of a discussion as to Avhat sort of horse it was Noah took with him
This, with

some

really interesting facts

cij.

XXVIII.]

77/c'

Original

Home

of the Horse.

245
\v;is

into the ark, and where the Iiorsc

let

went
'

after

Ik,'

out of

it.*

Not

to go back so far as that, I think Ave

may

be content with accepting the usual lielief that Arabia was one of the countries where tlie liorse was
originally found in his wild state,
first

and where he was

I

caught and tamed.

By

Arabia, however,

would not imply the peninsula, wliicli, according to -every account we have of it, is not at all a country
.suited to the horse in his natural condition.
is

There

lit

no water above ground in Nejd, nor any pasture for horses except during the winter months and the mares kept by the Bedouins there are fed, during
;

part of the year at

least,

on dates and camel's milk.

this point.

Every authority agrees on

sula, but

The Nejd horses

are of pure blood, because of the isolation of the ])enin-

Nejd is not a country naturally fitted for and the want of proper food has stunted the breed. Nejd bred horses are neither so tall nor so fast
horses,

.as

those of the

Dr. Colvill,

Hamad, although the blood is the same. who went to Riad in 1854, assures me

that he saw but one single mare durinoj the whole

of his journey there and back, and that that Avas a

small insignificant animal.

He

has seen, however,

ponies of thirteen hands in El Hasa which he de* Since writing the above I have been shown an article in 187G, in which Captain Upton corrects his original impressions about Arabian horse-breeding, in consequence of a visit paid by him to the Sebaa, Moali and other The account thus corrected tribes in the neighbourhood of Aleppo. is exceedingly good, though it still contains not a few mistakes.
Fraser's Mcujazine of September,

246

Btdo'iiin

Tribes of

tJic

Eut>hratcs.

[m. xxvin.

scribes as "little lions/' of great

power and beauty;

the "tattoes" of the Indian market.

It is

not then in the peninsula of Arabia, where

only to be had from wells, that the original
bordering the

water

is

stock can have been found, but rather in Mesopo-

tamia and the great pastoral

Euphrates, where water
perennial.
I Avas
is

districts

abundant and pasture

constantly struck,
its

when
-

crossing

the plains of Mesopotamia, with

Entrerios,

resemblance to

and

the

other

great

horse

producing

regions of the Eiver Plate.

Here the wild horse

must have [)resent day the ivdhash or wild ass is captured,) and taken thence by man to people the peninsula. Later on, invasions from the north seem to ha^'c
brought other breeds of horses to these very plains, members perhaps of other original stocks, those of These we the Piussian steppes or of Central Asia.
find represented on the Chaldean
still

been originally captured, (just as in the

bas-reliefs,

and

existing in the shape of stout ponies all along

the northern edge of the desert animals disowned

by the Bedouins as being horses at all, yet serviceThis able for pack work, and useful in their way. type, from whatever source it springs, Chaldean
stands in direct contrast wdth that of the true Aral)ian.
It is large-headed,

heavy-necked, straight-shouldered,

and high on the leg

riding
to

a lumbering
it.

clumsy

beast,

fit

rather for draught, if it

;

and

in this

way

were large enough, than for the ancient Chaldeans seem

have

chiefly

employed

The

desert, however.

cii.

xxYiii.]

Description of the Arabian.

its
is

247

lias

ahways preserved

own

breed intact

wherever the Bedouin

in the

found, whether in

and Nejd or
;

Hamad

or Mesopotamia, the same animal,

with the same traditions and the same prejudices

concerning him,
is

to be found.

It is of this

animal
four-

only that

propose to speak.

The pure bred Bedouin horse stands from

teen to fifteen

hands in height, the difference deis

pending mainly on the country in which he

bred,
colt.

and the amount of good food he

In shape he
is

is

given as a

like

our English thoroughbred, his

bastard cousin, but with certain differences.

principal of these
is,

The
in the

as
is

might be expected,

head, for Avhere there

a mixture of blood the head

almost always follows the least beautiful type of the

ancestor^.

Thus, every horse with a cross of Spanish

of that breed,
it

blood will retain the heavy head

though he have but one-sixteenth part of

of a better strain.

to fifteen
is

The head

of the Arabian

larger

in proportion than that of the English thoroughbred,

the chief difference lyiug in the depth of jowl.

is

This

very marked, as

is

also the

width between the

is

cheek-bones where the Enofish horse

tive to the cost of his windpipe.

often defecears are fine

The

and beautifully shaped, but not very small.

is large

The eye and mild, the forehead prominent as in horses of the Touchstone blood with us, and the muzzle fine, sometimes almost pinched. Compared with the
Arabian, the English thoroughbred
is

Eoman

nosed.

The

head, too,

and

this is perhaps

the most dis-

248

Bedouin Tribes of the

EiLpIirates.

[cn.

xxvm.

tino-uisliinn^ feature, is set

on at a different
if

an2;le.

When
seemed

returned to

England the thoroughljreds

tied in with

to

me

to hold their heads as

a bearino: rein, and to have no throat whatever, the

cause perhaps of that tendency to roaring so

common
and
I

with them.

The neck

of the Arabian horse

is

light,

to the crest given

have never seen among them anj^thing approaching by his pictures, to the Godolphin
Arabian.

The shoulder

is

good, as good as in our

is

own

horses and the wither

often as high, although

from the greater height of the hind-quarter this is The forearm in the best specimens not so apparent.
is

of great strength, the muscle standing out with

extraordinary prominence.
it is

in our thorouo-hbreds,
is

The back is shorter than and the barrel rounder.

The Arabian

well ribbed up.

He

stands higher

at the croup than at the wither.

higher, but not, as I have heard

a level with the croup.

to use an
Irish

The tail is set on some people say, on Indeed, the jumping bone,
is

phrase,

often very prominent.

The
and
ing.

tail is carried

high, both walking

and galloping;

this point is
I

much

looked

to, as

a sign of breed-

straight as a colt's,

have seen mares gallop with their tails as and fit, as the Arabs say, to hang
is

your cloak on.

The hind-quarter in the Arabian

much narrower
The
line of

than in our horses, another point of breeding, which

indicates speed rather than strength.

the hind-quarter

is

finer,

the action freer, and the

<,H.

XXVI II.]

His speed and

Paces.

249

upper limb longer in proportion than in the Englisli

racehorse.

The

liocks arc larger, better let

down,

and not

so straight.

The cannon bone

is

is

shorter.

The

legs are strong, but with less

bone in pro})ortion
perhaps the finest
a

than back sinew.

This last

point of the Arabian, in

whom

"

breakdown

"

seldom or never occurs.

the pastern
itself

The bones

of the pastern

joints are fine, sometimes too fine for strength,

is

and
Its

long even to weakness.

are round and large,

length

is

a point

much regarded by

the Arabs as a

sign of sjoeed.

The hoofs

and

very hard, though, from the barbarous method of

shoeing and paring of the foot practised by the
desert

blacksmiths, a strano-er
is

midit doubt
short,

this.

The

toe

often

cut

ludicrously

out

of

economy, to save frequent shoeing.

The only defect of the Arabian as a compared witli our owm, is his small size.
inch there can be no question which
It is
is

racehorse,

Inch for

the faster horse.

England that the Arabian but one pace, the gallop nnd in a certain sense has this is true. Trotting is discouraged by the Bedouin colt-breakers, who, riding on an almost impossible
said in
;

commonly

pad, and without stirrups, find that pace inconvenient.

But with a

little

patience, the deficiency can easily

be remedied, and good shoulder action given. pure bred Arabian however is a high stej)per.
style of galloping
is

No
His

long and low, the counterpart

of our Enoiish thorouo-hbred's.

He

is

a careless but
It is con-

by no means a bad

or dangerous walker.

250

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[rn.

xxvm.

sidered a great point of breeding that a horse should

look abont
this,

him

to right

and

left

as he walks

and

makes him
ever seen
is

combined with the great length of his pasterns, liable to trip on even ground, if there are slight inequalities in his road. I have never how-

Inm even

in dano-er of

fallino-.

The horse

too sure of his footing to be careful, except on rough ground, and then he never makes a false step. The broken knees one comes across are almost al-

ways the

result of galloping colts before they arc

strong enough over rocky ground, and, though a

fearful disfigurement in our eyes, are

thought nothing
the reverse of

of

by the Bedouins. The

reputation, so often given to

is

the Arabian, of being a slow walker,

true.
Avell

Though less fast than the Barb, he walks beyond the average pace of our own horses. His gallop, as I have said, is long and low, and faster in proi^ortion to his Itaiyht, than that of any other breed. If one could conceive an Arabian seventeen hands high, he could not fail to leave the best horse in England behind him. As it is, he is too small
to keep stride with our race-horses.

The Arabian
in the world.

is

a bold jumper, indeed the boldest

in their

Though

own country they

fences, not

had had absolutely no knowledge of

of the mares

one

we brouoht home

Avith us has

made

any difficulty about going at the fences we tried them at. One of them, the evening of her arrival in England, on being let loose in the park, cleared tlie fence which is five feet six inches high. We

(11.

xxviii.]

IIis Pozi'cj's of Endurance.

251

pulled clown the lo^Ye^ rails after

this,

her Ijack under the top one, a thick oak

Avas

and walked rail which

several inches higher than her wither.

Anclears

other,

though ouly fourteen hands two inches,

seven yards in her stride over a hurdle.

I

The mare

rode on the journey, carried

me

over the raised

watercourses by the Euphrates in the cleverest

in the world, otf

way

and on without the

\\\\\\

least hanoino;

or hesitation, and always

a foot ready to bring

hunters, however, in

down

in case

of need.

As

all l)e too small for any but and their want of comparative heio'ht at the wither would be a serious defect. Of their galloping 230wers, as compared with those of English tiioroughbreds, I cannot speak from expe-

England, they would

ride,

children to

rience.

do not, however, suppose that over three Arabian would

quite inferior
different,
l)ut
lie

miles, the lono-est Eno-lish race, an

have much chance against any

animals.

Over
I

five miles it

might

but

over twenty

am

convinced that none but very

exceptional English horses, would be able to go with

The Arabians seem capable of going on for surprising distances, under heavy weights, without
them.
tiring ;

and they have the advantage of being able to stand almost any amount of training Avithout going
"stale."

as fine as

The thorouo-hbred Anazeh horse any English racehorse. Be this

will ti-ain as
it

may,

no doubt that the pure bred Arabian possesses On a journey extraordinary powers of endurance. he may be ridden day after day, and fed only upon
there
is

-0^
grass.
is

Bcdoiiin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

sxvin.

Yet

lie

does not lose heart or condition, and

always ready to gallop at the end of the longest

march, a thing

we have never ventured

any previous journey.

to propose

to our horses on

In disposition the Arabians are gentle and affectionate, familiar indeed almost to the extent of being

They have no fear of man whatsoever, anyone to come up to them when grazing, and take them by the head. If they happen to be lying down, they will not move though you They are not to be intimidated <-ome close to them. lifting up of hands or sticks, for they do .1)y any It often not understand that you can hurt them. us in the desert to see the mares come up amused to their masters and use them, as they would one of
trouljlesome.

and

will allow

themselves, for a rubbing-post.

This extreme gentle-

ness and courage, though partly the effect of education, is also inherited, for a colt

born and brought

It

up

in the stable is just as tame.

never thinks, as
its

Eno;lish colts do, of runninofor protection,

round behind

dam

but comes at once to anyone who

enters the box.

I have never seen an Arabian vicious, shy, or showing signs of fear. They do not wince at firearms, though they are not at all accustomed to them and in England no railway train or sudden In this they are noise gives them the least alarm. veiy different from Barbs, Turks, and all other foreign horses I have had to do with.
;

There

is

among English

people a general idea that

cii.

XXVIII.]

Favourite Coioiws.

-Dv>

grey, especially flea-bitten grey,

Arabian colour.

is tlic commonest But this is not so anion o- the Anazch. Bay is still more common, and white horses, though fashionable in the desert, are rare. Our white Hamdaniyeh mare, Sherifa, which came from Nejd, was immensely admired among the Gomussa for the sake

of her colour almost as

much
is

as for her head,

A\'hicli is

indeed of extraordinary beauty.

The drawing

at the-

beginning of this chapter

her very faithful portrait.

Perhaps out of a hundred mares among the Anazeh

one would see thirty-five bay, thirty grey,
chestnut, and the rest
balds, duns,
fifteen

brown or black. Eoans, pieand yellows, are not found among the pure bred Arabians, though the last two occasionally The bays often have black points are among Barlxs.
and generally a white foot, or two or three white feet, and a snip or blaze down the face. The chestnuts vary from the brightest to the dullest shades,

and

once saw a mottled brown.

The
Avas

perhaps handsomest horse

standino' about fifteen
little

we saw

and a Samhantallest

el-Gomeaa, a three-year-old bay with black points,

hands one

inch.

He was

clumsy, however, in his action, though that

may

have been the fault of his breaking.

satisfy all recjuirements,

He had

bone enough to
cjuality.

even those
the handis

of a Yorkshire man, but showed no sign of lacking

AVith very few exceptions,

all

somest mares Ave saAv were bay, Avhich

without

doubt by far the best colour in Arabia as it is in England. The chestnuts, as with us, are hot tem-

2 54

Bedouin Tribes of the Enphrcites,

Black
desert
is

[ru.

xxvm.

pered, even violent.

a rare colour, and I

never saw in
fancied.

tlie

a black mare which I

In choosing- Arabians I should take none o but bays, and if possible bays with black points.
It

must not be supposed that there

marcs among the Bedouins.
Vv'e

are

many first-

<;lass

During all our saw but one which answered to the ideal we had formed, an Abeyeh Sherrak of the Gomussa. Nor were there many which approached her. Among the Shammar we saw only two first-class mares, among the Feddan perhaps half a dozen,
travels

and among the Eoala, once the leading trijje in The Gomussa alone, of all horse-breeding, none. the Anazeh, have any large number of really line mares. We had an excellent opportunity of judgingf, for we were with the Gomussa when ho-htino; was going on, and when every man among them I do not consider that \vas mounted on his mare. we saw more than twenty ^' fok el aali," or, to translate it literally, "tip- top" mares, nor more than fifty which we should have cared to possess. I doubt if there are two hundred really first-class
mares in the whole of Northern Arabia.
of course do not
for

By
still

this I

mean

first-class in

point of blood,
fairly

animals of the purest strains are

first-class in quality

numerous, but

and appearance

as well as blood.
I

cannot help suspecting that a certain amount

has taken place within the last

of deterioration
fifty,

perhaps the last twenty years.

There

is

no

til.

XXVIII.]

Causes of Dcoencracy.
in

255
present

doubt

that

the

early

years

of the

the Roala were possessed of immense numbers of mares, and had the reputation of having the monopoly of some of the best strains of blood. It was to their Sheykh, Ibn ShaaMn, whom called the " Prince of the Desert," that Abbas he Pasha sent his son to be educated, and from them that he bought most of the mares, of which he made such a wondei'ful collection. Yet from one cause and another the Ebala, thoue^h still rich and They powerful, have now no mares to speak of. have within the last few years abandoned the old Bedouin warfare with the lance, and taken to firearms. Horses are no longer indispensable to them, and have been recklessly sold. The Shammar of Mesopotamia have suffered for the last two generations by the semi-Turkism of thisir Sheykhs, Sfuk and Ferhdn, and have been divided by internal dissensions to such an extent, that their enemies, the Anazeh, have greatly reduced them. Ablms Pasha also bought up many fine mares from among them
century,
at extravagant prices
single
Ijreed,

and they now have not a specimen among them of the Seglawi Jedn'in TJic for which they were formerly famous.
;

Montefik in the south, once also celebrated for tlieir horses, have allowed the purity of their breed to be

tampered with,
plied.

for the

sake of increased

size,

so

necessary for the Indian market which they supIt

mixed

was found that a cross-bred animal of Persian and Arabian blood, would pass

256

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

j)ure

[ch.

xxvm.

muster among the English in India as

Arabian^

and would command a better price from his extra height. The Persian or Turcoman horse stands fifteen hands two inches, or even, I am told, sixteen hands and these the Montifik have used to cross The produce is known in India their mares wdth. as the Gulf Arab, but his inferior quality is now
;

recognised.

Lastly, among who have maintained the

the Sebaa themselves,

ancient breeds
in
all

their integrity, various accidents

have concurred in

diminishino; the

seasons
fifteen
tribes,

of

number of their mares. Several drought and famine, within the last
have reduced the prosperity of the

years,

and forced them to part with some of their Many a valuable mare was thus sold, because her owner had no choice but to do so or to let her starve, while others, left " on halves " with inhabitants of the small towns, never
best breeding stock.

returned to the desert.

Mijuel, of the Misrab, told

which he had been obliged to a townsman, and which, from having been left standing a whole year in a filthy stable, had become foundered in all four feet
of a

me

mare of

his,

leave in this

way with

and could not be removed. Finally the continual wars, which for years past have devastated the tribes, have caused an immense consumption of horses. AVhen a mare is taken in war she is usually galloped into the nearest town, and sold hurriedly by her captor, for what she will fetch, for fear of While her being reclaimed when peace is made.

CH. xxYiM.]

Erj'oiicons Principles in Breeding.

257

mares were thus every day knocked about, and often with fresh spear-wounds gaping on Hunk
at Aleppo,
its

we were

brought for

to look at, terribly

or shoulder.

Besides

all

these reasons, the Bedouin system of

breeding, as at present practised

among

the

Anazeh

and Shammar, must have had a degenerating effect upon their blood stock, which is only now beginning That this system has in most to show its results. of its features been the same from time immemorial
in Arabia,
is it

no doubt true, but there

is

is

one point
has been

on which

more

likely the practice

modified by recent circumstances.

In former times
it

when

the tribes were rich and prosperous,

cannot

be doubted, but they kept a larger proportion of

horses as compared wdtli mares than
is

now

seen.

At

the present time there can hardly be more than

kef)t

one full-grown horse

for

stud purposes to

every two hundred mares.

is

Indeed, the proportion

is

probably far smaller, and this fact alone

account for

suf-

ficient to

much

of the barrenness and

much

of the inferiority of the produce, comj)lained

of in the desert.

In England such a proportion

would not be
wrong, this too
separated from

tolerated.

Then,

if

there be

any
is

truth in the doctrine

that

in-and-in breeding

may be

looked upon as an increasing

and,

evil in the desert.

The Shammar have long been

though

the rest of Arabia,

occasionally recruiting their breeding stock

by cap-

ture from the Anazeh, they have been for a couple

258

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en.

xxvm.

communication with other horse-breeders. They have despised the horses of their Kurdish and Persian neighbours too thoroughly to allow any infusion of blood from them, and thus have been forced to
of liundred years practically cut off from
all

breed in-and-in during

all

these generations.

The
from

Anazeh,

too,

though not

so absolutely severed

Central Arabia, have, since the reduction of Jebel

Shammar by
free

the Wahabis,

been precluded from

communication with the peninsula, and have become more and more isolated and the evil has been exaggerated by the extraordinary fanaticism shown Ijy both Anazeh and Shammar in favour of certain special strains of blood which monopolise
;

their attention.

blood stock of
the
closest

At the present moment all the the Anazeh tribes must be related in
That
this

degrees of consanguinity.

fanaticism operates most injuriously there can hardly

be a doubt.

The horses bred from

are not chosen

for their size or their shape, or for

speed or stoutness, only for their blood.

horse

any quality of We saw a

as

with

considerable

reputation

sire,

among

the Aghedaat, for no other reason than that

he was a Maneghi Iledruj of Ibn Sbeyel's strain. The animal himself was a mere pony, w^ithout a
single

good point to recommend him, but his blood was unexceptionable, and he was looked upon with awe by the tribe. These two j^oints then, the insufficiency of stud horses and in-and-in breeding, may be looked upon

<

H.

xxviu.]

How

a Bcdoitin judges a Horse.

259

as exceptional, yet adequate causes of degeneracy

anion 2; the

rank and

file

of

the Bedouin horses

north of Jebel Shammar,

It is difficult to

understand

how

it

happens that
In
agos

the pure Arabian race should have in fact retained

as

much

of

its

good quality as

it has.

all

and

in all parts of Arabia, to say nothing of the

points I have

already mentioned, an

unpractical

system of breeding has prevailed, due in part to

prejudice,
soil.

and

in part to peculiarities of climate

and and

To begin

with,

there

has been the

extraof,

ordinary prejudice of blood I have spoken

which, though doubtless an excellent one as between

pure Arabians and " kadishes,"

is

hardly valid as

between the
inferior

different strains of pure blood.

is

An

specimen of a favourite strain

all

probabl}'

preferred

over Arabia to a fine specimen of a

or rather of a less fashionable one. of
it, is

lower

strain,

Thus the Bedouin's judgment horse itself, when he does judge

the individual
rather a guess

at his pedigree than a consideration of his qualities.

In examininor a horse, the Bedouin looks

head.
will be visible.

first

at his

There, if anywhere, the signs of his parentage

Then, maybe, he looks at his colour

to see if he have

any

special

marks

for recognition,

and last of all at his shape. Of the speed of the animal, though nmcli
talked of
is
it,

is

it

is

seldom that anything accurate

known. The Bedouins have no set races by which they can judge of this, and the relative

26o

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[en.

xxvnr.

merits of their mares can hardly be guessed at in the fantasias where they figure.
is

Even

in

war

it

rather a question of endurance, than of speed,

is

Avhich
flight

the better

animal

and, where

a real

and a real pursuit takes so seldom a straight one, that

place, the course is

it
is

as often that

the best trained or the best ridden mare gets the

advantage, as the one which really has the speed.

mare, celebrated for speed in the desert,

is

as

often as not merely a

very well-broken
idea,

charger.

The Bedouins have, moreover, no

to give

even

if

they had the intention, of riding their horses so as

them

full

advantage of their

stride.

They

must be very hard pressed indeed, if they keep on at a steady gallop for more than a mile or two together. Their parties and expeditions, even where haste is necessary, are constantly interrupted by halts and dismountings and a steady pace all day They go, long is a thing not to be thought of. however, immense distances in this way, cantering and stoj)ping and cantering again, and are out sometimes for a whole month together, during which time their mares are very insufficiently fed, and They often kept for days at a time without water.
;

are also exj)osed to every hardship in the

way

of

climate, heat, and cold, and pitiless wind. The mares then, depend rather on stoutness and long

endurance of privations, than on speed, for finding

favour with their masters.

The education they

receive,

no doubt,

prej)ares

nr. XXVIII.]

Early Training and Education.

but at the same time
it

261

them

for this,

interferes

with their growth, and prevents them from developing the

full

powers of strength and speed they

might otherwise acquire. The colt, as soon as it is born, and this may be at any time of the year (for the Bedouins have no prejudice in favour of early foaling), is fastened, by a cord tied either round the neck or round the hind leg above the hock, to a, tent-rope, and kept thus close to the tent all
day,
its
little

dam

going out

the

while

to

pasture.

The

creature

by

this early treatment

becomes
It
is

extraordinarily tame, suffering itself to be handled

at once

and played with by the

children.

fed, as soon as it can be

made
;

to drink,

on camel's
it

milk, which the Bedouins pretend will give

the

endurance of that beast

end of the month,

the mare.

it

is

and, at any rate by the weaned altogether from

The

real reason of this can

foal,

hardly be

the good of the

but the necessity of making-

use of the mare for riding.

at

most a month before

The Bedouins allow and a month after foaling

for rest.

The

colt

then has not the advantage

we

think so essential to proper growth, of running

with
year
later

its

mother during

its

first

season.

It con-

tinues, however, quite tame, and, as soon as it is

old, is

mounted a

little
is

l)y

the children, and

on by any boy who

is

a light weight.

The

Bedouins declare that, unless a colt has done really

hard Avork before he
never be
fit

three years old, he will

;

to do

it

afterwards

so in the course

262

Bedouin Tribes of the Etiphrates.

is

[en.

xxvm.

of his third year he

taken on expeditions, not

or being captured, but on

perhaps serious ghaziis, where he would run some

risk

of breaking
;

down

minor journeys
fiixure

of

eiixht,

and he is taught to gallop in the and chano;e his lesrs so as to otow

is

supple.

This
if

treatment
the
colt

indeed a

kill
it,

or cure

one

and,

gets

through

there

is

little
is

fear of his

breaking

down

afterwards.

It

seldom that one sees a three-year old without

though curbs and spavins are not common. have seen several animals with the shauk bone permanently bent, through hard work when very
splints,
I

young.

agree,

however, with the Bedouins, in

necessary.

believing that to their general health and powers of

endurance
fillies

this

early training

is

go through the same course of

The treatment, and

themselves become mothers before they are four

years old.
offers to the

as the case

The colts are sold off when opportunity townsmen of Deyr, Aleppo or Mosul, may be, or to dealers who come round

to the tents of the tribes, during their

summer

stay

in the extreme north.

The best are usually taken

dealers,

by the townsmen,

as the

especially those

who supply
times as
a

the Indian
colts.

market, seldom

or never

purchase hadud

These

cost
it

about three
easy to forge

much

as the others,

and

is

pedigree.

The townsmen,
and care

particularly those of

Deyr,
tlie
l)est.

who

are almost Bedouins themselves,

know
take

difference well,

for nothing but the

tribes,

Others are sold to the low

who

(II.

xxviii.]

The Bedoiiin on Horseback.

towns

263

them

iu to the

for further sale, as soon as

they have broken them.

kept in the
tribe.

The

fillies

are generally

Of
horses.
ing,

diseases there are few

I

among

the Bedouin

have never heard of an instance of roarliroken wind.

and only once of

An

accident

known

as "twisted gut," is, however, rather common, and some other diseases of an inflammatory nature which prove suddenly fatal. Horses, mares, colts, and all alike are starved during great part of the year, no corn being ever given, and only camels milk when other food fails. They are often without water for several days together, and in the most

piercing nights of winter

they stand uncovered,

and with no more

shelter than can be o;ot on the

lee side of the tents.

Their coats become lono; and and they are left uncombed and unbrushed shaggy, At these times till the new coat comes in spring.

they are ragged-looking

scarecrows,

half-starved,

and

as

rough as ponies.

In the summer, however,

their coats are as fine as satin,

and they show

all

the appearance of breeding one has a right to expect of their blood.

The Bedouin never

sort,

uses a bit or bridle of any

but instead, a halter with a fine chain passing round the nose. With this he controls his mare

and effectually. lie rides on a pad of cotton, fastened on the mare's back by a surcingle, and This pad is the most uncomfortuses no stirrups. able and insecure seat imaginable, but fortunately
easily

264

BedoiUn Tribes of

the Euphrates,

[en.

xxvm.

the animals are nearly always gentle and without

vice.
I

have never seen either violent plunging,

indeed any serious attempt
rider.

rearing, or

made

to

throw the
able to
colt,

Whether the Bedouin would be

is

sit

a bare-backed unbroken four-year old

ex-

as

the gauchos of South America do,

ceedingly doubtful.

The Bedouin has none of the arts of the horseHe knows little of showing off a horse, or even of making him stand to advantage, but, however anxious he may be to sell him, brings him just as he is, dirty and ragged, tired, and perhaps
dealer.

broken-kneed.
for

He

has a supreme contempt himself

everything except blood in his beast, and he

expects

everybody

else

to

have the same.

He

knows nothing of the simple art of telling a horse's age by the teeth, and still less of any dealer's trick
in

the

way

of false marking.

This comes from the

fact that in the tribe, each colt's age is a matter of

public notoriety.

We

avoided, as

much

as possible,

having direct commercial dealings with our friends

in the desert, but, from all

we heard and
it is

the

little

we saw
one price

of such transactions,

evidently very

difficult to strike
is fixed,

a satisfactory bargain.

As soon
;

as

another

is

substituted

and, unless

the intending purchaser rides resolutely away, there

is

no chance of the l)argain being really concluded. Once done, however, and the money counted and

re-counted by half a dozen disinterested friends, the

horse or mare

may

be led away.

do not think

en. xxviii.]

Pedigree of the Arabian Horse.

265

the Bedouins have in j^eneral

much

personal love

for their mares, only a great deal of pride in them,

and a

full sense of their value.

As I have already said, they will not tell a falsehood in respect of the breeding of their animals, a habit partly due to the honour in which all things connected with horseflesh are held, partly, too, no
doubt, to the public notoriety of the breed or breeds
in each family,

which would

at
is

once expose the

severe

falsehood;
head.

and public opinion

thus

on

this

Having premised

much

of

the

general
1 will

characteristics of the thoroughbred Arabian,

now

explain what

have been able to discover of

his pedigree.

PEDIGREE OF THE ARABIAN HORSE.

Tradition
states that the
first

horse-tamer was

Ismail-ibn-Ibrahim, or Ishmael, wdio, after he Avas

turned out of his father's tents, captured a mare

from among a herd which he found running wild, The Emir ''mini tmhash'' (like the wild ass).
Abd-el-Kader, in confirming this
that the children of Ishmael had a
principal stock
stor}^,

told

me

mare from this which grew up crooked, for she had been foaled on a journey and, being unable to travel, had been sewn into a hhourj, or goat's-hair sack, and placed upon a camel. From her descended
a special strain of blood,
Ahivaj,
or " daughters of

known

as

the Benat-eltliis

the crooked," and

2 66

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

first

[en.

xxvnr.

was the

distinction

made by

the

Bedouins

among
Tlie

their horses.

Benat-el-Ahwaj, or Aluvaj, as
called,

it

is

more
it

commonly

may

therefore be considered the

I

oldest breed

known.

have never heard of

in

the Arabian deserts, but the

it

Emir

assures
;

me

that

exists

under that name in the Sahara

and that

the breeds

now recomised

in Arabia are but ramifi-

cations of this original stock.

more than a guess as to the antiquity of the names now in use. The five breeds known as the Kliamsa are not possessed by tlie tribes of Northern Africa and it is therefore probable, that at the time of the first Arabian conquests (in the 7tli and 8th centuries of our era), they had not yet Ijecome distinguished from the general stock. The Emir, however, does not doubt of their extreme antiquity, and I think it is certain that the Kehilans must have been contemporary with Mahomet for a breed called Koklani exists in Persia, and we may fairly suppose it to have been brought there by the early Arabian
It is difficult to give
;
;

invaders.
Persia.

It

has not, however, been kept pure in

The Kehilans,

then,

early sub-breed of the Ahwaj, receiving their

we may presume, were an name

from the black marks certain Arabian horses have marks which give them the round their eyes
;

appearance of being painted with kohl, after the

fashion of the Arab

women.

" Or, indeed, " Kehilan

rii.

XXVIII.]

NiebiLlir quoted.

267

niay he merely a
first

new name

for tlie

Ahwaj, used
is

as

an

epitliet,

but afterwards superseding the

This supposition
treats tlie

older

name

in Arabia.

favoured

by Niebuhr, who evidently

Bedouin
race, as

Kochlani, as
of the pure

he calls them, as the generic

name

contrasted with the Radishes or

town horses
solely.

of the peninsula.
says,

"The Kochlani," he
They are said King Solomon's studs.
fit

"are reserved
this

for riding

to derive their origin from

However

may
*
"

be,
*.

they

are

to bear the greatest fatigues *

Kochlani are neither large nor handsome

his ideas of

a,

(It

The must

be remembered that Niebuhr was a Dane, and took

beauty in
in

all

probability from the great

Flanders'

horses

ridden by our ancestors.

his

Eastern breed
England),
figure,

day, more

than

The hundred

years ago, was liardly yet quite established even in

" but

amazingly swift

it is

not for their

but for their velocity and other good qualities

that the Arabians esteem them.

chiefly l^red

These Kochlani are

Merdin and
wiiole race

by the Bedouins settled between Basra Syria, in which countries the nobility The never choose to ride horses of any other race.
is

divided into several families, each of

which has
to be the

its

proper

name

that of Dsjulfa seems

most numerous.

Some

of these families

their

have a higher reputation than others, on account of more ancient and uncontaminated nobility.
Although it is known by experience, that the Kochlani are often inferior to the Kadischi, yet the

268

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

least, of tlie former, are

[cu.

xxvm.

mares at
ill tlie

always preferred,

hopes of a fine progeny.

tables of genealogy
;

"

The Arabians have indeed no

to prove the descent of their Kochlani

yet they
;

are sure of the legitimacy of the progeny

for a

mare of

this

race

is

never covered unless in the

presence of witnesses,

who must be

Arabians.
;

This

people do not indeed always stickle at perjury

but

in a case of such serious importance, they are careful to deal conscientiously.

false

There

is

no instance of

testimony given in respect to the descent of a

Every Arabian is persuaded that himself and his whole family would be ruined, if he should prevaricate in giving his oath in an affair of such
horse.

consequence.
"

The Arabians make no scruple

stallions

of selling their
;

Kochlani

like other horses

but they are

for

unwilling to

part with

their

mares

money.

When

not in a condition to support them, they disbeing at liberty to recover

pose of them to others, on the terms of having a

ushare in the foals, or of

them

after a certain time.

" These Kochlani are

nobility, the dignity of

much

like the old

is

Arabian
These
level,

whose birth

held in no

estimation
horses are

unless
little

in

their

own

country.

valued by the Turks.

better watered,

Their country

being more
Arabians.
stately

fertile,

swift horses are less necessary to

and less them than

to the

They

prefer large liorses,

appearance

who have a when sumptuously harnessed.

cH. XXVIII.]

N'o lurittcu Pcdigj'ccs.

269

seem that there are also Kochlani in Heclsjas and in the country of Dsjof but I doubt if
It

should

they be in estimation in the domains of the Imam,

where the horses of

too

men

of rank appeared to

mc

handsome

to be Kochlani.

The Endish, howmerchant

ever,

sometimes purchase these horses at the price

of 800 or 1000 crowns each.

An EnMish o

was

offered at

Bengal twice the purchase-money for

;

one of these horses

original price."
I
is

but he sent him to England,

where he hoj^ed that he would draw four times the

have given
this extract almost
in,

extenso, as it

interesting in spite of

easily

some blunders, which are explained by the fact that Niebuhr never
great horse-breeding tribes.
It

visited the

shows,

names of the breeds were at and that these are in no wise a mere modern invention, as some assert, got up by horse-dealers for the benefit of Englishmen in India. The notion of such an imposture is not to be entertained by anyone who has conversed, even for half an hour, on horseflesh with a Bedouin. The fanatics about breedino- are not the English but the Bedouins themselves and
at

any

rate, that the

that time as clearly established as now,

it

is

inconceivable these can have been converted

by any conspiracy of horse-dealers.

absurd
idea,

An
is

equally
that

also

current in

India,

the

Anazeh breed has within the

talk of

last sixty or

seventy

years received an infusion of English blood.

Some
by the

English thoroughbred horses,

left

270

Bedouin Tribes of the

EiipJirates.

[en.

xxvni.

French under Napoleon in Egypt, others of horses introduced into Syria forty years ago, but nobody

Anazeh can for an instant conceive that the existence of any number of Eno;lish thorousfhbreds at Damascus or Cairo, would have the slightest influence on their own breeding stock. By the Anazeh the finest horse that ever ran at Newmarket would be accounted a mere kadish, and would not even be looked at for
of the

who knows anything

stud purposes.

"'

But
called,

to resume.

The Kchihins, whenever

centuries,

first

so

have been without doubt a recognised breed

and were in all proIjability the parent stock which produced the other four great strains of blood, which with the Kehilan make up the Kliamsa. These also have existed as distinct breeds in Arabia from "time immemorial," but whether that means one hundred or five hundred, or a thousand years, it is quite impossible to say. The common belief of their descent from the
in Arabia for
five

many

mares of Solomon

is

of course a

fable,"]*

and

is

not

much

talked of in the desert

itself.

* Some thorouglibreds brouglit by Mr. Skene to Aleppo oigbleen bj'^ tbe Arabs even of the towns, and no one dreamed of sending his mares to them. Prejudice was too strong. We took great pains, while travelling with the Anazeh, to ascertain what they knew of our English thoroughbred stock, but with the exception of !Mi". Skene's they had never heard of any, and laughed heartily at the idea of any mixture with them or other kadishes having been permitted. f Abd-el-Kader told me that these five mares were Bvnat-dAhivaJ, purchased by Solomon of the Ishmaelites, and that one of
or twenty years ago were laughed at

cii.

xxvni.]

The Five great Breeds.

271

The names of the Khamsa,

are as follows
1.
:

or five ixreat strains

all

of blood (originally Ahwaj, and possibly

Kehilan,)

Kehilan,
is

fern.

KcMhh

(or Kehilct before a Towel).

This strain

the most numerous, and, taken generally, the

most esteemed. It contains a greater proportion, 1 think, of bays than any other strain. The Kehilans are the fastest, though not perhaps the hardiest horses, and bear a closer resemblance than the rest to English thoroughbreds, to
indeed they are more nearly related.

whom
per-

The Darley Arabian,

haps the only thoroiighhred Anazeh horse in our stud book, was
a Kehilan. The Kehtlan
of the strains.
is

not by any means the most beautiful

Its subdivisions are very

list

numerous, and

will

be given in the

substrains are the

The favourite Kehilan Ajuz, the Kehilan Nowag, the Kehilan

at the

end of

this chapter.

Abu

Argiib,

Abu

Jenub, and Ras-el-Fedawn.

2.

Seglawi,

fern. Beglawieli.

One
best of

strain of this blood, the Seglawi Jedi'an, is considered the

all

in the desert

high repute.

They

are, how^ever,

and the Seglawis generally are held in comparatively rare, and exist

only in a few families of the Anazeh.

Among

the

Shammar

there are Seglawis, but no Scghnvi Jedi'iins, the last mares of

this breed

Pasha.

The

having been liought up at fabulous prices by Abbas four strains, Jedran, 01)eyran, Arjebi and cl-Abd
in origin, being

are identical

descended from four Seglawi

has been kept absolutely pure.

mares, sisters

but only the

is

first

Even

the Seglawi JechVui

to be

found pure in the families

of Ibn Nederi and Ibn Sbeni only.

The Seglawi Obeyran

has been crossed with the Kehilans and other strains, and the

most celebrated, was given by him to the Sheykli of the Uzd, in whicli tribe her descendants are still found. She was called Zad-el-Mus('fir (food for the traveller) on accoant of her being fast enousrh to run down the 2;a;^ellc.
tliem, tlie

272

Bcdcntiii

Tribes of the Euphrates,

is

[en.

xxvin.

El Abel though purer than the Obeyran

yet not absolutely

it is

so even in the family of Ibn Shaalan, where

at its best.
fast,

The

Seg'lawi

Jedran of Ibn Nederi

is

powerful and
is

but

not particularly handsome.

in appearance,

Ibn Sbeni's strain

more

perfect

and of equal purity.

3. Abeyajs",

/ew. Abcyeh.
is

The Abeyan
and has
less

is

generally the handsomest breed, but

small

resemblance to the English thoroughbred than

cither of the preceding.

The Abeyan Sherrak

is

the substrain

most appreciated, and an Abeyan SheiTak we saw at Aleppo, bred by the Gomussa, could not have been surpassed in good looks. He was not hoAvever of a racing type. Again an Abeyeh Sherrak mare belonging to Bctcyen ibn Mershid was the most
perfect
])ure

mare Ave saw. Abeyan Sherrak

But her
strain
is

sire

was a Ivehilan

Ajiiz.

The

only found in the family of

Abu

Jereys of the Meseka, and in a single family of the Jclaas.

4.
is

Hamdaxi,

fern.

Hamdanieh,

the Anazeh or Shammar. Most of the animals of this breed I have seen have been grey, but a very handsome brown horse was shown us by the Gomussa,

not a

common

breed either

among

This

Avas a

Hamdiini Simri,

AA'hich is

the only substrain recog-

nised as hadud.
Ave

The very
on the

beautiful white mare, Sherifa,

which

had

Avith us

latter part of

our journey, Avas a

Ham-

danieh Simri.

She aams bred in Nejd, and had been in the possession of Ibn Saoud. Her head is the most iicrfcct of any I have seen. She stands fourteen hands tAvo inches, and is pure

white in colour, Avith the kohl patches round the eyes and nose
A'ery strongly

and blackly marked.

as full

Her

cars are long like a

hind's,

and her eyes

the desert.

and soft. She Avas admired all over In shape, head apart, she is more like an English

hunter than a racehorse.

;).

Hadban,/. Hddhhf'h,
the Anazeh, the best having formerly
Roiila.

also

uncommon among

been possessed by the

Hadban

Enzeklii

is

the best sub-

cii.

XXVIII.]

The
to
it

O litside

Breeds,

~i 6

strain,

and

belonged a remarkable marc owned by

Motail

hammed
and

JiiTO at Deyr.

She stood about fourteen hands two

of
fire.

a-lialf inches,

was a bay with black points, caiiied her

full

very high, and was

She looked

like a racehorse,

though not an English one. The two other substrains, Mshetib and El Fun'd, are not so much esteemed as the Enzeklii,

Besides these five grecat breeds, wliicli are called

the Khamsa, there are sixteen

other breeds,

all

more or less esteemed, and most of them with one or more strains of blood, accomited equal to the Khamsa. These are
:

1.

MAXEGHi,/e??i. Maneghiek (the long necked).

off-

Said by some (but without sufficient authority) to be an

shoot of the Kehilan Ajuz.

are marked.

The

characteristics of this breed

distinction,

They

are

plain

and without

have

coarse heads, long ewe necks, powerful shoulders,

much

length

and strong but coarse hind quarters. They have also much bone, and are held in high repute for the qualities of endurance and staying power. Niebuhr's description of the Kochlanis seems to have been written exjDressly for them. Of the two substrains the most esteemed is the Mtineghi Hedi'uj, of which the family of Ibn Sbeyel of the Gomussa possesses the finest mares. These are generally known as Maneghi Ibn Sbeyel, but there is no distinct strain of that name. The other substrain, Manegld es Sldji (greyhound), is described as being " the original " Maneghi breed.
2.

Saad AX, /<?;.

Tor/an,
is

Sdaclch.
in high repute.
is

The

substrain,

Sdadan

The handShe
is

somest and strongest mare we have

of this breed.

chestnut fourteen hands two inches, of perfect beauty and im-

mense power, but she cannot gallop with the Kehilans.

She

bears a strong resemblance to one of the portraits of Eclipse, VOL. II, T

2/4

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates,

[ch.

xxvm.

that published in the "

the To^yf Anazeh,

was known
Saadeh."

far

Book of the Horse." She was bred by who never come north of the Hamad. She and wide among the Anazeh tribes as " tlie
3.

DAKHMAN,/fi.

Ddlilimeli.

The
filly

substrain

Em

Amr.

"We saw a veiy beautiful

Dakhmeh
we saw or

at the

Gomussa.

All the horses of this breed

heard of were dark bay or brown.

4.

Shueyman,/cw. Shueijmeh.
the Sliueijman
Shall..

Of

this the only substrain is

Faris,

Sheykh of the Northern Shammar, has a mare of this breed. She is coarse, but of immense strength and courage, and when She is a dark bay of fourteen moving becomes handsome.
liands three inches, or thereabouts.

5.

JlLFA^,/e;?i. Jilfeh.
cl

Substrain Jilfan Stam

Bulad (sinews of steel).

son
a

of Mijuel of the Misrab, rode a fine bay three-year old

Jilfan

colt,

Stam

el

BuJad.
G.

Toessa:^,/^;??. Toesscli.

Substrain TOessan AJgami.

The

only horse

we saw of

this

breed was a bay, handsome but very small.

7.

Samh^^^ /(?y. SamlicU.

Samhan el Gomeaa. we saw among the Gomussa was

Substrain

The

tallest

and strongest colt

of this breed.

He

has akeady

been described in the journal.

8.

Wadxan-,/^'/^. Wadiieh.

Substrain

Wddnan
9.

ffursdn.

RisHAX, /'//?. Rishch.

Substrahi Fuahan Shcrdhi

11.

xxvui.]

QiLaliJications

for
.

the Stud.

275

Keb e ysh ax, fern

el Oiiicyr.

Kdicijsh vli

Substrain KeheijsJian

11. MELEivHAX,/c'i. 12. 13.

McWiha.
Jereijhch.

Jer YBAX, /i'wi.

JEYTAXi,/fm.

Jpijtanich.
Fercji-li.

14. FEiiEJAXj/wi.

15. TREYFi,^/^'/^i. Troijfu'li.

16. Rabd.lx^, /^;?L Rdbilch.

It will be observed that in the foregoing

list, all

the breeds, except the last

substrain,

six,

have at least one

to

whose name

is

added

that of the
in choosing
his

breed,
sires.

and these substrains only are used

Kehilan without an

affix to

name

is

not hadiid, that is, not "worthy;" and of the disqualified class

mares only are used

for

breeding

their

produce, however, inherit their disabilities, and the

Arabs do not consider that a

stain in the blood can

be extinguished by lapse of time.

On

the other
or a

hand a Rishan, with the

Sd-mhan, with that
qualified,

affix

of Sherabi,

of

El Gomeaa, are perfectly

although a Kehilan Ajiiz or a Segliiwi

Jednin would be preferred. Of the minor breeds none are kept absolutely pure, except the Maneghi Hedruj of Ibn Sbeyel. In all cases, the breed of the colt is that of his dam, not of his sire. There is no such distinction in the desert as that made in India, of high caste and low caste, first class and second class. An animal, about whose
breeding there
gether,
is

any doubt,

is

disqualified alto-

and

is

not bred from.

T 2

276
I

Bedo7iin

Tribes of

tJic

Euphrates,

[en.

xxvni,

add a

table, sliowino- the

whole of the strains

and

substrains, premising that one

are reputed to
stock.

and all of them have descended from the same original

G]

-4
I

BREEDS.
ir-inar

1.

Keh*-

of

Hac

Samhan

dkhi

Wadnari'
lah

an

S. el

Gomdaa

Kehilan

ihr
I

K.
ault

el

Abiid

K.

K. J6hara K. Meti

took great pains

td

PEDIGREE OF THE ARABIAN THOROUGHBRED

STOCK.

OUTSIDE BREEDS.
1.

EeUu

..h1

Vidnui

Kiikui

Wyshan
lii'yfl,

K.

ol

Om^yr

now

extstiogoDl

I.

AnJ6mi

Abfyan
Arjdbl

A.

M&neghi

M.

Slilji

HelAUun
Jartjban

).

8.

Oberrin

M. SUJi

M. Hdruj

KeiiQan

E. Ajik
I

K. Abu Argiib

K. Abu JenAb

K.

ol

Krueh
K.

E. Daj&ni

EC.

80671!

E. Hddoli

E.Ucadimoh
Goiilli

E. Tehir&n

E.

Om Sora
E.

E. Tdmri
ffiyfl

K. Akhr&a

E. TrdjBhi E.

K. HalMuJ

W4U

K. Bhnilynnii

E. G4ga

K.

E. llirreh

E. EfBbdyr

E. Xmnbi

K. Dokta

a
E.
:.

K.il.

Jennffli eil

Toyr

E. Uobiyet E. Uorkdn

Gbaz&U

tagliBli

Tliorougbbred

POSTSCKIPT.
Scheme
of a Euphrates Valley Eailway.
tion.
cess.

Of river The Turkish system of government. Its Its failings. A guess at the future.

communicapax-tial

suc-

ix

It lias l)een suggested to nie tliat I ought to say few words as to the possible future of the coun-

tries

described iu

this

book,

more

especially

in

relation to their supposed

destiny of giving us an
first as to

overland route to India

and

the scheme

of a railway between the Mediterranean and the

Persian Gulf.

In these days of engineering triumphs,

all

things

are of course possible, and a railway could doubtless

be constructed over any part of the desert.

To

lay eyes, however, certain difficulties present themselves,

if

not in the construction, at least in the

its

working of such a road, while the prospect of

chimerical of fancies.

ever proving a financial success, looks like the most

railway

follo^^'ing

the line

of the Euphrates, must pass either along the actual

Valley, or the table-land above
it.

In the

first

case

the flooding of the river and of bed will have

its

frequent changes

to be considered, while in the

second an immense amount of cutting and bridging

will be required, for the

whole of the desert immeis

diately bordering the valley

a network of

wadys

278

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates.

ravines.
Tlie plain, too,
lies

and

at

an average
is-

height of some hundred feet above the river, and

possessed of no water at
its

own

level.

Lastly,,

several intricate lines of hills

must be cut throusfh. The latter remarks apply with douljle force to any more direct route across the desert. In winter,
indeed, there
is

a line of fresh-water pools, running

between Damascus and Ana, but these are dependent for their existence entirely on the autumn
rains,

and the rain does not always

fall.

In

summer

they are dry.

A much
w^ay,

more serious objection to a desert railwould be the impossibility of making practical

it,

use

of

except in the temperate months.

cannot think that

a sun

many

passengers would choose a

railway journey of a thousand miles under such

the Hamad boasts, between May and The average maximum daily temperature the coolest house in Bagdad during June and
as
is

October.
in

July
goes

107, while the

to 120,

thermometer there sometimes,

122.
;

up

and even

The heat of the

desert would be far greater

and, unless stations of

which to pass the heat of the day, summer travelling would be impossible for Europeans. These and the road would have ta
refuge were established, in

be well guarded, as
respect them.

it is

unlikely the

Anazeh would

As
that

a commercial scheme

it

though

tlirough

traffic

for

must be considered^ goods might be

traffic

abundant,

and through

passenger

in

the

The Eiiphratcs Valley Railway.

winter months, no local
traffic

279

could be counted on.

The

villagers of the Euphrates are too poor to afford

the lowest price at which railway fares could be

offered,

while
is

tlieir

existing

caravan trade with

of

camels

cheap, and
of

time
is

is

no value.

The
If

population

the river

extremely scanty.

Bagdad and Aleppo, it is more than I should suppose exists, and of these, four- fifths at least must belong to the lower villages south of Ana. Between Ana and Aleppo, three hundred miles, there is but one village of any importance, and probably not ten thousand
there are fifty thousand inhabitants between
inhabitants,
all

counted.

A more possible railway route, commercially speaking, lies along the track of the old caravan road

by
I

Orfa and Mosul, for this passes through a cultivated

district,

and would serve a

series of large towns.

cannot, however, conceive that even this could be a

For many years to come the existence of a railway would be powerless to repeople
financial success.

Assyria
soil

and, with such large tracts of excellent

lying uncultivated and close at hand between

sea,

Aleppo and the

the scene of a

immigrants would hardly choose

colony.
It

the tamarisk jungles of the Euphrates and Tigris as

new

must be
all

recollected
is

that the area of alluvial land in either valley

very small.

principal feature of

these schemes

seems to be the restoration of

plain formerly was, could not

fertility to the

Baby-

lonian plain south of Bagdad.

This,

rich as the

now

be effected with-

2 So

Bcdoidn Tribes of the EitpJwates.

out a prodigious outlay in the form of waterworks.

To

reconstruct entirely the Babylonian system of

canals is financially impossible,

even for the richest

;

country in the world at the present day

and with-

out irrigation not a blade can

a;row.

The only practical scheme

Persian Gulf
is,

for

improving the com-

munications between the Mediterranean and the

in

my

opinion, the establishment of

This, if pro-

line of steamers

on the Euphrates.

perly managed, might do effectual good, and even

be made to pay
c;able

its

expenses.

The

river

is

navi-

for boats
all

drawiucf eioliteen inches of water

;

nearly

the year round

ond Midhat's boats

too
large.

failed

only because
.steamers
local traffic,

they were

line

of

would sufficiently supply the wants of and could afford to do so at a far cheaper rate than any railroad. Steam navigation would be free of danger from Bedouin interference and the tamarisk j'crub would long- afford an excellent supply of fuel. Such a scheme, however, v/ould be
;

of little

use to India.
established,

and Turkish .abuses reformed, the present system of government might well be left to work out the natural development of the country, though this could not be rapid. I have no sympathy with the Turks in Arabia, and still less with their administration.
It is utterly corrupt
;

Water communication

but
is

do not think their theory

of government there

a bad one.

The protection

of the peaceable tribes and the repression of the war-

Turkish Successes in Ai'abia.

like ones

28

encouragement to

all

wlio will cultivate

the

soil

security for the high roads

;

and military
offered

occupation of the villages

with the Bedouin
chiefs,

alliances entered into

and inducements
;

them

to act as the police of the desert

nothing,

more European. It is only in practice that the Turks fail, and that, I fear, from incurable causes. Yet have they not wholly
in idea, could be better or
failed.

From

a military point of view, the Pashas

can

boast with some truth that, compared

with

twenty years ago, no country has made more rapid steps towards civilisation. The power of the Bedouin
tribes has within that period
if

been seriously checked,

not broken

and

it

is

quite conceivable that in

another twenty years, at the same rate of progress,

the Anazeh will have disappeared from the upper

Syrian desert,

and the Shammar have been

life

re-

claimed to settled

in Mesopotamia.

On

the

day when the

alluvial valley of the

Euphrates shall

be completely cultivated, and their access to the

river cut off in
retire to the

summer, the true Bedouins must

life.

Nejd, whence they came, or abandon

their independent

Turkish optimists are exthis.

cusable

if

they count on

But

for

my

part, I

do not believe

in the regeneration of Turkey,

its

or

even in the maintenance of

military power for

any length

of time.

Tlie chief vice of the Turkish system, as

now

seen in the desert,

empire,

is

one which

affects

the whole

ruthless

taxation.

The goose with the

282

Bedouin Tribes of the Euphrates.

is every day being killed in Turkey, or any rate mercilessly robbed, and to its last nest egg. In this way, the peaceful shepherd tribes, though protected from the Anazeh and Shammar,

golden eggs
at

are plundered

preciate the change of masters.

tribe t\Yenty years

by the Government, and hardly apThe AVeldi, a rich

ago when they were tributary to now reduced to poverty by the
Pashalik
of
;

the Anazeh,

are

and the Aleppo Jibtiri, on the Tigris, industrious herdsmen, seem strangely altered in circumstances since Layard
exactions
of

the

lived

among them
;

in 1845.

The only

really prosrule, are

perous nomades,
the Haddadin the townsmen,

at present

under Turkish

and they, from their connection with

may

possibly have been respected in

It is

the general plunder.

hardly to be wondered

at then that, in view of that which has befallen

their
tribes,

poorer neighbours,

the

great

camel-owning
all

who being always on

reach, should

the move, are out of

Government
proposals

have hitherto refused

made them

of abandoning their wild

life.

Their power of oftence, indeed, has been

restricted of late
lines

much

years by the garrisoning of the and the introduction of " arms of and their precision " among the Turkish soldiery old source of wealth, the tribute paid them by the But, beyond this, desert towns, has been cut ofi'. The Anazeh and nothino- has Ijeen effected. still as thoroughly independent of the Shammar are
of river,
;

Sultan as the day they

first

appeared within his

A
life

Political Forecast.

283
and way of
I see

borders, while tlieir ancient cliaracter

remains unchanged.
far distant

In

my

mind's eye

day not very

when, the treasury at Con-

stantinople being exhausted, these outlying military

posts of the Euphrates, with its schemes of railroads

and

steamers, will be abandoned, and the Bedouins,

havins;

exchano-ed their lances for more modern

weapons, shall reign again supreme in the valley.

The shepherd tribes, and even the villagers, will not much regret their return and all will be as it
;

was a hundred years

ago.
;

My

sympathy

is

with

them and not with progress and cry, " Long live the Sultan." But will no other power appear

in their interest I

in the desert

THE END.

BRADBUEY, AGNEW,

&

CO.,

PRINTEU

;,

WllITEFXUABS.

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